In the Dark
by FiendLurcher
Summary: A day in the life of a man struggling to become a Hero of Justice. Accepting what should have been an easy job, Emiya Shirou is pulled along into a catastrophe with repercussions that will echo through time. Once again, he must surpass himself if he wishes to survive, much less save those unfortunate enough to have been pulled into this disaster.
1. Loop 1-1 & Loop 6-1

**Chapter 1: Loop 1-1 & Loop 6-1**

* * *

 _London - September 3rd, 1964_

"Truly?"

"Yes." The man answered, taking another sip of his coffee to hide the relieved smile. He had always partial to the ground bean beverage, unlike his more traditional comrade sitting across from him. The bitter beverage helped him conceal his emotions, as discretion was still important at this point.

Sipping his tea, the man in a waistcoat and jacket pondered in silence opposite to the man who awaited judgment anxiously, before looking up again.

"It cannot be _that_ simple."

"No." He smiled slightly in answer, enjoying the slightest disappointed slump in the others' posture at his confirmation. _He had him hooked now, certainly!_ "No, it isn't quite that simple."

The man scoffed, setting down his tea with a glare.

"Certainly, that in and of itself is no simple task, but if that was all it took to reach the Swirl of Origin... then I am sure we magi would long since have mastered all our world has to offer." He offered with some haste, acknowledging the silent chastisement at the misleading words.

The elder magus nodded, leaning back as he pondered for a while.

"Now, let me see if I understood this correctly—and do interrupt me if I have misunderstood some point here, please." Seeing the man opposite him nod and pick up his cup of coffee, he continued.

"What you propose... is to use time manipulation on a large scale in order to create a 'bubble of hyper-stagnation'. Inside this bubble, time would move so slowly in relation to everything else that it would be possible to experience the end of the world, _somehow_ , and right before the end to slip into the Root. Is that about correct?" He spoke, before chuckling mirthfully.

The man adjusted his round glasses and nodded, flicking away an errant bang of hair that bothered his eyes. The sound of chuckles didn't appear to bother him, but he stayed still and awaited his companions judgment.

"No, it isn't quite that simple. Tell me, my young friend, how would the death of Gaia relate to the Root? Why would the death of our World give us passage into the realm beyond, where we seek our answers?" He shook his head and began taking out a pipe from the folds of his jacket, before making eye contact with the man opposite to him. Lifting the pipe, he did not even bother to ask if it were a bother if he smoked, though he usually did.

The younger man scowled behind his glasses—black eyes almost willing the fine, dark lacquer of the pipe to burst aflame—but said nothing, accepting the pipe with silent annoyance. This minor concession ought to be enough to placate this prickly and proud man. Enough to keep the discussion going, at least.

Though the Clock Tower nominally was all about research and preservation of magecraft, in truth there was more than a kernel of politics involved in everything that went on.

"Sir, have you not kept up with the news from the other side of the world?" At the questioning look, he further clarified. "No, not my home country. I meant the Americas. They've discovered something called cosmic microwave background radiation in one of their research facilities, which supports Hubble's theory of expansion."

The man slowly and studiously continued filling his pipe, taking care to pack the dried tobacco blend _just_ right. He looked up, as if to ask; _And?_

"And as you well know, entropy rules supreme in any contained system. But in an ever expanding universe?" A barking laugh stopped him cold and he closed his mouth with a scowl.

"You believe that this will truly signify the end of everything? Ridiculous. That as everything in it slowly dies, so too, must the Universe itself?" Enjoying the sullen silence his words received, he lit the now filled pipe with a small puff of air that caught fire at the sparks his teeth managed to create. "But, _do continue_. You certainly believe that this effort will yield fruit. Let us shelve that particular issue for the time being, for the sake of your theoreticals. What is it that you do believe _will_ be a problem?"

The bespectacled man frowned—blowing away a slowly approaching, almost impenetrably dense wisp of smoke that was slowly making its way toward his face—before he took a deep breath and continued.

"The problem is that by stagnating something that much, the World itself does not see it any more as a living being, essentially killing it despite no harm coming to pass on anything inside the bubble. Not too dissimilar to the thought experiment Schrödinger proposed; _it could be alive_ , but it never is."

"And no doubt once you collapse this bounded field of yours that affects stagnation, the World makes sure to wreak havoc on anything that was caught inside the barrier. It is quite vengeful in exacting its pound of flesh when manipulated so overtly by foolish magi, I have come to learn over the years." He smirked, puffing a thick cloud of grey smoke. Not quite aiming at his companion, but close enough to bother the other.

Nodding sullenly, he continued. "That is true as well, but my experiments have shown that the subjects inside die even before the bubble is collapsed, despite less than a fraction of a second passing inside."

They both remained silent at that, the only sound in the room being the old standing clocks internal mechanisms and the silent burn of the packed tobacco at every inhale.

"So, what is it that you seek of me? We're certainly practitioners of similar arts—and while I certainly recognize your burgeoning talent and intellect, my young friend—I do not think that there is much to be gained from, ah, _comparing notes_ , shall we call it?" The man puffed and took out a pocketwatch hanging on a chain from his waistcoat, comparing the time to the clock by the wall and frowning at the discrepancy he noticed. He must have been inexact in his experiments again, for such a noticeable discrepancy to exist in his measurement devices. It would not do.

The bespectacled younger man hesitated for a moment, but only someone who knew him well would have been able to tell that he was unsure where to continue from here.

"You were a student of the Wizard Marshall, once..."

The older man froze, his eyes shooting up from the pocketwatch, narrowing dangerously as he stared at the man before him.

"Only in passing, and only matters related to _magecraft_ , nothing more. And you would do well to not speak more of this matter, regardless of how much favour I may have shown you before."

"I only need to talk to him, about the Bartholomeis—"

"Hahahaha!" The man's loud laughter cut the dark haired man off, pushing him back into shocked silence. "So _that's_ what your plan is? To turn yourself into an undead abomination and wait for the end of the world? How patently ridiculous!"

"That's..."

"No, no. I've heard quite enough. You may leave, now. And never bring this matter before me again. You would do well to forget any such notions without my assistance, as well. For your own sake, more than anything."

The two sat in silence, staring at one another, until the Lord finally noticed his pipe again and brought it to his lips to take a deep inhale to savor the aroma. Despite the thick, acrid smoke, he did not so much as wince as he took in a lungful and blew it out in a long, drawn out breath. This time, he did not bother to turn his head away from the man sitting across from him.

The dark haired man did not react in any fashion to the smoke, but finally after a long moment stood up and with a small incline of his head left the drawing room, leaving the smoking man by himself and his clocks.

Outside the manor, Emiya Norikata ground his teeth together as he left and made a note to himself to never let his anyone around him pick up such disgusting habits as smoking.

* * *

 _London, December 20th 2012_

Shirou felt off today. Something about this day just didn't sit right with him, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

His body was in good condition; he had managed to work his way back into shape after the almost-month long recovery he had needed after that debacle in Bolivia. He had hired a Spiritual Healer to look over his wounds, and the man had assured Shirou that there would be complications, so that couldn't be it. Though the wounds may have originated from a Dead Apostle, there was nothing to worry about. Or so he was told.

His mind and circuits were in fine as well and he had slept well the previous night, so nothing there seemed to be the cause either. Perhaps he should call the Spiritual Healer for one more check up, just in case? He had come all the way here just for that reason, after all.

Frowning to himself, he looked out the window and beheld the first rays of the day, heralding a new morning. As winter approached, the sun rose quite late into the day so he had been awake already for several hours, but that diminished nothing from the beauty of the event in his eyes.

There was something about dawn that struck him, deep within, as an image. Sometimes, he dreamed of a far off rising sun, above hazy and indistinct landscape. Something about that image wouldn't leave him alone.

He shook his head.

It was chilly, but not quite cold. There hadn't been much, or really _any_ , snow at all so far.

Pondering what he should make for breakfast in his rented hideout _slash_ recovery resort of a flat on the western outskirts of London, he was surprised to hear the sound of his mobile phone ringing. Flapping for a moment trying to locate the darned thing, he finally found it buried beneath a pile of newspapers on the dinner table. It was a good thing it had a long battery life as he had the bad habit of not carrying it around with him or checking it all too often.

"Hello?"

" _Round 6, Third Sunset?_ " The voice on the phone queried and he hesitated for a moment, but luckily the caller was in no hurry to end the call.

"Yellow 4?" He tried after a moment of hesitation.

" _...Damn it, S. Keep track of your passphrases already._ "

"Sorry." He said with a grin as he searched for the wireless headset with one hand. Passphrases and no names; he would have found a certain novelty in all this cloak and dagger business if he didn't know that it was essential to staying alive on certain jobs.

" _No, you aren't. But never mind that. You good already? You got fucked up pretty bad back there._ " The voice sounded more amused than miffed, mirroring in tone Shirou's visage.

"Yeah, I'm good. You got a job lined up? Something better than last time?" The grin had faded by now and he, finding the headset and noting the charge he gave a satisfied huff. Placing it in his ear and the phone in his pocket, he went into the kitchen and opened the fridge. Perhaps some stir-fried rice with vegetables and the rest of yesterdays chicken would be good for breakfast? Or would it be too heavy?

No, he needed something filling if he had a job lined up.

" _...There was nothing wrong with the last job, S._ "

"You know I don't like working with those guys. They've got their hands everywhere. That mark said he'd been put in place by _them_ , you know. What's the point of taking down one of their puppets when you know they'll just place another one by next week?"

"... _Yeah, sure he might have said that. But that's not proof of anything. And the fucker was a bloodsucker, too. You gonna trust someone like that not to lie their ass off, huh? And we got rid of that shit he'd been spreading, too. That's gotta count for a good days work, right S?_ "

"By 'got rid of' you mean sold it straight back to the people who originally sold it to them? You know, our _employers_?" Shirou retorted, with more than a little heat. He checked the sizzling butter on the pan and threw in the cold rice from the fridge and cracked open six eggs in succession, all one handed with practiced ease.

" _Look, S. I know you don't like working with the...'Canadian Iridium Association', but they pay good money and we do good shit for them. They said they'd get rid of it and they've been good for their word so far._ " The voice on the other end spoke back, his volume rising a little bit higher to match Shirou's.

"...Fine." He mumbled as he began cutting a trio of washed and scrubbed carrots on the kitchen top. Timing would be essential here; he did not particularly enjoy soft carrots, a good crunch gave a texture to the rice that chicken simply did not and could not offer. "So tell me about the job."

" _Alright. Short job, min a day, max a week. Great pay and not far from where you are._ " Making sure not to throw in any locations wasn't a perfect way to avoid being found when using a phone, given that the connections were ultimately tracked, but it helped. Shirou also noticed that his friend was studiously avoiding any mention of who the client was. Not even a hint; which meant Shirou wouldn't like it.

"Who's the client?" He added some salt, ground a touch of pepper and ripped some fresh spinach leaves and added it to the rice, taking one leaf and munching on it for a snack. When the other end did not say anything, Shirou knew he definitely wouldn't like this client. "Answer me or I hang up and go back to watching British morning tv while making breakfast. And let me tell you, as much as it would pain me to watch that tripe, I will if you don't start talking."

" _...Fine. It's the Department of Modern 'spooky' Theories, the locals I mean._ " He put extra emphasis on the spooky, just to avoid saying the actual word they were both thinking. There should be a limit to paranoia, but they were partners for a reason. One supplemented the other in areas where they lacked and vice versa.

"...Great." The _Clock Tower_ , went unspoken but both were thinking it. "Just great. You know, I think I'd prefer if you just found another shady agency we could work with, I mean compared to those people, the last job seemed perfectly lovely."

" _Come on, don't be a drama queen. You had an explosive break up, I know, but you don't have to be such a pussy about it._ " The person on the other end of the phone was laughing now. " _And it's local business, less than a week. They're probably just doing some new test somewhere in the woods and need a high standard porter or some shit. You do have 'proper butler training' and everything, should be a piece of cake. Easy money._ "

Shirou scowled and thought about saying a few choice words, but instead took a deep breath and calmed himself. As long as it wasn't the Department of Mineralogy, there shouldn't be a problem he supposed. Of course, a _should_ was never a guarantee of anything. Quite the opposite, he'd come to learn.

Still...

"Good money?"

" _Great money._ "

For every clean job he did for money, the less time he would have to waste working on crap like that last job, where he wasn't saving anyone. Just cleaning up after some big agency or group that had left a huge mess and didn't want to dirty their own hands publicly. For a couple of days work, he could fund a lot more actual work.

"Yeah, alright. Send me the contact info. Are you sending me any gear?"

" _Yeah, I'll send a text, normal encryption. And nah, this shouldn't need anything but I've got a cache nearby; I'll activate it just in case. But you probably won't need it. Benefits of just being hired as dumb muscle, eh?_ "

Turning off the stove and taking off the pan, Shirou grunted before ending the call. The food smelled good, but he had no appetite any more.

"I knew this day was going to be a pain."

* * *

Waiting at the designated street-corner café was a tall man of light complexion but long dark hair. It was someone Shirou knew, but wasn't certain would recognize him in turn.

Waver Velvet, _Lord El-Melloi II_.

"...Why is he here? Damn it." There was no reason for the Head of the Department of Modern Magecraft Theories to be interviewing or meeting with just some dumb muscle. Not under any ordinary circumstances anyhow.

Either he was really desperate or there was another reason entirely for this meeting. One which he hadn't been informed off. He sighed, resolving himself as he entered through the door.

Sitting down with a quick scan around the shop, taking a headcount and locating the bathroom and exits along with angling himself so that he had a decent view, Shirou greeted the older man. He noted the darkness of his hair, that it hadn't faded with the years since their last meeting and now served to match the dark rings around the man's eyes. He was drinking what looked like an average cup of coffee, but Shirou could smell that it had been filled with espresso.

Working overnight? Now would still be a good time to walk away, he told himself. Of course, he was too polite to simply leave after arranging a meeting, not without listening to the details of the job at least. That's what he always did; grumbled and groused to himself and yet nigh always accepted the job, anyhow.

It struck him queer that he was looking down at the man, now. Last they'd met, Shirou had been a good head shorter and far less heavily built up. Lessons were rarely physically challenging at the Clock Tower, while his line of work in his current line of work... Well, he certainly didn't push himself so hard because he thought his muscles looked good or anything.

"I heard you were looking from some specialized assistance." Shirou began, without bothering with introductions.

"...Yes. The question is _are you qualified?_ " Matching his candor, Lord El-Melloi II seemed even less inclined to settle down into polite pleasantries than Shirou. Then again, the man had always been too frank for his own good. Never fit in with the Tower bunch, especially not with his _fellow Lords_. _"_ I am looking for a veteran who has experience in urban combat and tracking, preferrably with the ability to handle bounded fields and combat familiars."

Uh huh. Walk away, this is just another meaningless bloodbath. Nothing good will come out of this job. Just walk away. Magi conflict always ends with death; there is never any salvation to be had...

"Why?"

Yet that was exactly why he couldn't refuse. If he refused, people would absolutely die. If he went along, perhaps... Just perhaps, he could do something.

"...Why, what?" El-Melloi asked in question to question, beginning to get annoyed.

"Who's the target and why?" Shirou persisted.

"...Do you really think I would simply share that kind of information with you, especially before you've proven yourself capable, or even _reliable_?" Waver twitched, either from annoyance or his lack of rest combined with the recent caffeine overdose kicking in.

"...You have a gun underneath the table, there's someone by the restrooms hiding underneath a small bounded field and you have back up in the car by the other side of the road." Shirou drawled, leaning back, his hand going for his waist. He had a gun, _too_. And he was fairly certain he was a better shot than this man would be. El-Melloi started, clearly surprised by those words but shut his mouth just as quickly as the waiter showed up to take his order.

"Earl gray, no sugar, a bit of milk please." Shirou said with a smile to the young girl, eyeing her up and down before dismissing her, she wasn't another of El-Melloi's followers. Too skinny, with no presence whatsoever and El-Melloi's eyes didn't waver at her as it had with the others. He was a bit surprised about the pistol sticking out of El-Melloi's coat-pocket, but supposed it made sense. For all his theoretical knowledge, observatory skills and his great mind he wasn't exactly a heavyweight in a fight.

Though the Lord's choice in firearms did not make all too much sense to Shirou; the five pointed star on the grip revealing it to be a fairly old design, combined with the careless manner in which it was stored meant that it was probably a recent addition to his person. Luckily their waitress did not seem to notice the pistol, either.

The person by the bathroom was obviously an ally, given that El-Melloi wasn't surprised at the presence. He hadn't actually seen through the bounded field or even noticed it was there when entering, but whoever was hiding was wearing high heels and was tapping their foot in annoyance. Sloppy, though the field did muffle the sound quite a bit. The sound alone wasn't enough to ascertain the presence of a back up inside the building, but El-Melloi's reaction had confirmed it. The car had been revealed by El-Melloi looking there three times in the past minute.

Not a worried glance, so much as a reconfirmation that the car and its occupant—a woman perhaps, judging from the bit of long hair he could see—were still there. As the waiter left, Shirou leaned back forward, placing his elbows on the table and crossing his fingers in front of his face.

"Well?" Shirou said, making El-Melloi click his tongue in annoyance. Waver's usually surly face grew even more etched than normal. For all his skill and genius, the man received very little respect and worked harder than any other Lord in the entirety of the Clock Tower. For that, Shirou had to respect the man for what it was worth.

But that did not mean that the Lord before him was not utterly overworked and a sour grape for the ages.

"A day ago, an... assistant of mine was killed. An item was stolen and I believe it necessary to reacquire it from the perpetrator before they leave the country. I am working in tandem with some other vested interests, who also require the capture and or termination of the target as soon as possible, but I do not know the specifics regarding their goals." Waver spoke in a tired, yet clear voice. Unfaltering, yet somewhat hollow words that matched his eyes.

"What about the Enforcers?" Shirou inquired. The Clock Tower's military arm, for all intents and purposes, was more than capable of handling such duties. At least, more so than Shirou.

"One supposedly caught up to the target, but was killed. Or wounded enough that further communications have not been possible. We'll be working with another one, possibly."

Shirou made a noise of understanding but didn't say anything more as the waiter approached once more, bringing a serving platter with the tea he had ordered along with milk and cream jars. Waiting until the woman left, Shirou simply stirred his tea while mulling over El-Melloi's words.

"Do you have a complete profile on the target? What are you working against here?" Shirou asked, eliciting another annoyed click of tongue from the older man. Though Shirou guessed it was not specifically aimed at him.

"We are not sure. He was supposedly a member of the Clock Tower, with records matching his history, but no one has been able to tell who he is exactly supposed to be. The records place him as a Grand-rank magus, but there isn't much else we've been able to figure out yet. It's all a mess, with records somehow jumping back and forth decades on a single pag—" Waver sighed, rubbing his brow as he took a deep breath before continuing. "It's not important for you to know. We have a rough physical description, but not much more."

Shirou furrowed his brows in concentration. Grands were not common mages, they were essentially the rockstars of the Clock Tower, regardless of direct political power and familial rank. Ability was respected in the Mage's Association, and very little says ability quite like achieving the highest rank when even most Lords could only make it to Brand. Thus, the complete lack of profile struck him as quite unusual.

Either he was being fed shit and being kept in the dark here, or then Lord El-Melloi II was.

And the distant presence of Enforcers promised _nothing_ _good_. The Lords' personal bloodhounds, not so much a military arm of the organization as simply headhunters who brought back people of note. Especially when they wanted to keep a very close eye on someone _interesting_. The fact that one had been killed meant that the target wasn't just an accessory to a very old dusty book in some laboratory, but knew how to use those highly valued abilities with quite some efficiency, which was just a cherry on top of this disaster of a cupcake.

Something about the fact that the records had been tampered with also left him queasy about the whole thing. It made him think of an inside job, or that the man before him stood at the mouth a great big trap. Whether it was laid there for the Lord or Shirou did not matter, it would just as easily devour both. _Just walk away already_.

But...

Someone had been killed and Waver Velvet was not a heartless magus, appearances aside. If he was running this ragged, then either the _El-Melloi clan_ had a vested interest in the matter, or the target was actually that bad.

"Last question. Were you looking to hire me specifically for this job?"

El-Melloi snorted and shook his head.

"No, anyone with the right skill set will do. You just happened to be in the area, or so I was told. Now, will you be signing the contract or have I been wasting my time?" At his last words, the Lord bristled a little.

"Fine. Show me the papers. And I'm not agreeing to a geis over this, either." Shirou scowled at the elder mage, daring him to disagree. But aside from a matching scowl, no objections were made. Reading through the contract and finding it a standard legal paper agreeing to a act in defense in reasonable danger and standard attendant duty in return for 'great pay', Shirou signed and stamped the papers soon enough. Three copies were made and one was given to Shirou.

El-Melloi read through the contracts one more time before placing his two copies in a briefcase.

"Alright, with that out of the way... Tohsaka, show yourself."

Shirou froze and turned around, spotting a very familiar raven-haired mage leaning against the wall by the restrooms, sporting a familiar smirk.

"Hello, Emiya-kun."

Should have just fucking walked away.

* * *

Sitting in the car he had spotted outside the coffeehouse, now driving steadfastly north with its four passengers, Shirou felt more than a little awkward. It was just his luck that _those two_ would be involved in all of this, especially after the last time he had seen them.

He had even made sure that nothing of the Department of Mineralogy had been mentioned anywhere in the contract or assignment details before agreeing to anything.

Right after finishing his last year in highschool, Shirou had decided to follow a friend to London to further his studies into magecraft. Having only had the barest of educations into the mystic arts before meeting his first proper teacher—one Tohsaka Rin who had been a fellow competitor and an ally in the 5th Holy Grail War—the Clock Tower would have certainly been a considerable hurdle for him to clear.

That is, had he stayed.

A mere half year into his studies—having made friends over the first few months with the fourth passenger in the car, the Finnish magus and all-out rival of Tohsaka, and having realized just how wide the moonlit world truly was—he had been called all the way from Japan in the middle of the night.

Illyasviel von Einzbern was dying.

He had wanted to run off to Japan, but Rin had been in a critical phase and needed his assistance more than ever. So, words had been exchanged and finally their friendship had been all but exterminated as he had walked out to catch the first flight to Japan.

Or so he had thought.

Judging by Tohsaka Rin's current demeanor, it seemed as if her enraged countenance on that day had been nothing but an illusion. Well, at least _everything_ hadn't gone to hell then. Illya had been dead before his plane had even landed, making all that arguing seem so meaningless when he thought back to it.

It had been a stark reminder about what he had once sworn, what he believed in and had made an oath to uphold. After that, going back to the Clock Tower and studying the basics of esotericism and thaumaturgy had seemed so pointless that he had simply taken the first plane to Turkey and gone from there. The news had spoken of yet another tragedy in the Middle East, hadn't it? Where else should he have gone? He certainly didn't have any place back in London.

That was already years ago, now. Water under the bridge and all that, he supposed as he glanced at Tohsaka out of the corner of his eye.

"So where are we headed? You mentioned someone was killed? Have you investigated the scene?" He asked, breaking low buzz of the car that was only filled with the hum of the engine. Strangely enough, it was Lord El-Melloi handling the wheel, with Tohsaka Rin riding shotgun. Leaving him in the backseat with the rather impressive-as-always Luvia Edelfelt.

Luviagelita Edelfelt had been a fellow student of his, alongside Tohsaka Rin, when he had enrolled for the basic studies at the Clock Tower. The two women got along famously poorly and it seemed that the years had done nothing to change that. Luviagelita Edelfelt was much an equal as an opposite to Tohsaka Rin; for all the the two seemed to be all but twins in terms of their personality, beliefs and talents, they could not have gotten along worse.

The incident of the Norwich dormitories being demolished upon the duos first meeting was the stuff of urban legends among the younger generations of the Clock Tower. As far as he knew, however, neither Luvia nor Rin would be normally working under the Lord who had hired him. In fact, if he were not completely wrong, they should be a part of another Department entirely.

The very Department he had made sure to not be hired by, when he was told of this job. He thought about having words with his agent when they next met again. That guy must be getting rusty if something like this slipped past him. Or did it?

"And what does the Department of Mineralogy have to do with this matter?" He continued, knowing that both women were practitioners of Jewel Magic. That they would enroll in Kischur only made sense.

"Our business here is our business alone, but know that we will be aiding you in apprehending the target." Luvia spoke, her melodious voice and unusual accent captivating as usual. Wearing a light blue dress with white trimmings, she looked as elegant and beautiful as ever. Of course, he knew that she could tear those extravagant sleeves off in an instant and turn into a raging goddess of war at the drop of a hat. Turning to look at the man at the wheel, she continued. "And while the slain Enforcer and the Sealing Designate holding vaults were investigated by the Department of Policies and the Enforcers, our esteemed Lord El-Melloi II here has made it his calling to investigate the murder of his old student, personally. No one else cared enough, you see?"

Noticing that the Lord was looking at him through the rear-view mirror, Shirou looked back at him just in time for the dark haired man to scowl and look away again as their eyes met.

"We have a folder here, made by our own personal _Holmes_ , if you would like to see the scene." Rin continued, but was cut off by Lord El-Melloi.

"He doesn't need to see it." He said, glowering at the road, making motions with his jaw as if wishing he had a cigar. Rin and Luvia looked at each other but did not say anything, as if conversing silently.

"You're the boss." Shirou said, shrugging while mentally putting a tack on the strange exchange.

"Speaking of which... Sherou, have you given any thought to my offer? It has not changed, since those days long past." Luvia spoke, with a devious grin. Noticing the ferocious scowl Rin sprouted, Shirou carefully did not look her way as he tried to remember what the blonde was talking about.

"You mean the offer of permanent employ as a butler?" There had been such an offer he vaguely remembered, from his time at the Clock Tower. He had been a part-time in-training butler for Luvia since the money had been good and the things he learned had been fairly interesting.

"Indeed. Since our last meeting, you have certainly... Acquired a more varied set of skills. Or so I hear. The Edelfelts could certainly stand to employ a man such as yourself." She spoke with lidded eyes, her voice lowering to a husky whisper as he long blonde hair framed her face. All the while, he noted that Rin in the front was becoming more and more annoyed.

He felt like a mouse, being offered a piece of cheese by one cat just so it could bite onto him and hold him between its jaws to show off its catch to another cat, that was lurking behind a corner in ambush.

He snorted, breaking eye contact with a shake of his head.

"No, I really haven't. And I make it a policy to not discuss upcoming jobs while on a on-going one." Besides, for all that he enjoyed Luvia's company, the Edelfelts were not particularly nice people. Nicknamed as 'the most elegant hyenas', they had a bad habit of sticking their nose where it didn't belong for profit and fame. "Besides, I would have to fire my agent. And he would starve without me, the useless lout."

He shot her a mock grin, which she answered with a mock pout of her own, clearly taking the humor as it was meant.

"I'm not paying you for jokes." Came the irritated voice of El-Melloi from the front.

"Sir, yes sir. Might I perhaps drive, instead? You look like you could use some rest." He shot back without skipping a beat. The Lord scowled ferociously at him over the rear-view mirror but finally after a long while nodded. He pulled over and they switched seats, the Lord falling asleep the moment he sat down in the rear.

Marveling a moment at El-Melloi's mastery of the basics of self-care, Shirou shook his head and started the car. Next to him, Rin was shooting Luvia victorious looks while the blonde was pretending she didn't care. Shirou didn't think anything of it; the two would compete about anything and everything.

It had ultimately nothing to do with him.

Driving off to the address given, he ignored the two who continued their silent showdown of stares and subtle jabs, Shirou couldn't help but wonder what exactly he'd gotten himself involved in.

Stopping after an hours drive, Shirou parked the car by a petrol station. Making sure to be at the eastern corner of the car park as instructed, he spotted easily enough the entourage they were meeting. A half dozen cars, with people inside a large, black van in the middle of heated discussion and planning.

"Wake up the Lord, we're here." He said and Luvia.

Pulling to a stop next to shining black car that would have look at home in any antique collection or automobile museum, Shirou looked around the car park before undoing his seat belt. He kept the car running on neutral with the handbrake on, nonetheless. A speedy getaway was always a good thing to have.

Leaning against the hood of the car—as if it was any old piece of junk and not the most expensive vehicle for several miles around, wearing a Japanese garb with the distinct facial features of Asian descent—was a woman with long dark hair.

Lord El-Melloi woke up as if a switch had been flipped the moment the car stopped and looked around, looking slightly better off than before. As if sighing internally, his eyes lingered a moment on the women before he got out of the car. Lighting a cigar, he walked up to her and began discussing something, too quiet for Shirou to hear. He could have read their lips, if the Lord's back wasn't turned to him and he wasn't blocking the view to the women, but Shirou supposed he hadn't been hired to snoop around in his employer's business either.

Looking at his phone and checking the time, he noted that he really should have had the thing charging before he left, before turning to look at Rin and Luvia who were sitting quietly. They seemed almost bored, but neither seemed inclined to do anything at the moment so he stayed silently in the car as well.

"Who's the lady?" He finally asked, not really interested about her per se but noticing Rin's sullen looks at her and growing piqued.

"Adashino Hishiri, of the Department of Policies." Luvia shrugged, but did not further clarify.

Shirou made a noise of understanding. A political snake, no wonder no one in the car seemed thrilled with her appearance. He noticed a car pulling into the petrol station, from which a man ran inside and then left after a minute. Checking the time again, he looked over to Rin.

"Take the wheel, I'm gonna go at the shop for a minute." He said, making Rin next to him blink in confusion. He didn't give her time to complain, knowing she very well might not even have a driver's license and would be flapping at this moment.

Walking into the shop, he gave a cursory look around and noting how empty it was before he walked to the counter. Taking out his wallet, he took out an ID and showed it to the person behind the counter. They looked at it, slightly confused and not understanding what he wanted.

"You just got a package for me. Under the name Fujimura, I believe? Here's my papers, you can check." He said with a polite smile at the scowling at the young, pimply-faced attendant.

"Ey, we're not the bloody post, mate." He complained, but still took out the box Shirou knew he had. The courier would have indicated that Shirou would pay to receive the box on pick-up, so the man had incentive enough to play along despite the odd situation. His agent knew how to set up these kinds of drop offs, which was often useful. "...Fine. But there better no' be anyfing 'llegal in here, aright?"

"Just some sporting equipment." Shirou answered with a smile, taking out a wad of pounds, noting with some amusement how the young man's eyes were drawn to the wad. "All over the counter stuff."

That did it, and he left the shop 50 quid lighter and one L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle and two hundred rounds richer. Walking back to the car, he was spotted by the dark haired woman in glasses, much to Lord El-Melloi's displeasure.

"Hmm, oh yes. A pity about the girl, I suppose you would have to replace her." Her smile was an artwork of polite interest, but he could feel the cold calculation behind her eyes, mystic eye killer glasses or not. " _Adashino Hishiri_ , _a pleasure to meet you._ "

She spoke the greeting in Japanese, presumably to feel him out, so he felt obliged to do the same.

" _Emiya Shirou, likewise._ " With a small bow, he hefted the package under his arm, almost missing the widening of her eyes, telling of her shock. She mouthed silently his name, looking sideways at Lord El-Melloi who had noticed the exchange and was following with sudden interest at her reaction.

Pretending nothing had happened, Adashino smiled and ignored him again, but he could feel both her and El-Melloi's stares as he walked back to the car. Neither Rin nor Luvia had taken the driver's seat, which amused him a little, but the scowl the former shot him as he sat down wiped any expression of such off his face in a heartbeat.

Rin eyed the box as he opened it and looked through, confirming what his Structural Analysis had already told him. A single disassembled rifle and several boxes of ammunition. No magazines however, as his Agent thought it a cost-saving measure to have Shirou simply Project them as needed. They had had more than one argument about whether or not he should simply project casings for them to press so they could make caseless ammunition of a sort. It would save even more on their spending, but Shirou didn't feel quite safe with illusionary casings. And he was the one in the field, so his word went.

"Hmm... So that's what someone who doesn't make the cut at the Clock Tower uses." Rin noted, annoyed again. He almost sighed; it had been like this the whole day already. She would sometimes lapse into her old behavior; as he remembered her before. Teasing, smirking and always smug. But then she would snap back into being angry at him again.

Luvia gave a cursory glance, but didn't say anything about his package. He checked through the parts of the rifle and made sure everything was there before closing it again and stowing it on the backseat.

Lord El-Melloi finally returned, the ever-present crease between his eyebrows even deeper than usual as he scowled at Shirou, his eyes searching for something in him before ignoring him again as he sat down in the backseat. Giving a cursory look at the box, he sat there for a moment in silence before speaking up.

"Head for Leiston, eastern Suffolk." He finally said, before closing his eyes again.

With a grunt of assent, Shirou undid the handbrake and started driving.

After driving for half an hour, Shirou finally spoke up again, breaking the silence.

"So. What are we driving into?" It would be good to know if they were expecting a fight to break out in Leiston or wherever, before they actually showed up. For one, assembling the gun before he needed it would be useful.

Lord El-Melloi opened an eye on the backseat, eyeing him through the rear-view mirror for a long while as Rin and Luvia observed their byplay with rapt attention. Whatever that exchange with Adashino had been about, it had just about burned all credibility he had with the Lord behind him, for some reason. Wonderful.

"Oh come now, this is ridiculous." Rin said with a huff, as she opened the glove compartment and took out a folder and began looking through it. "The Department of Policies is looking into this because an Enforcer was killed. While the death of magi isn't anything strange in general, an Enforcer's death on a supposed assignment, of which there remain no traces after the fact, certainly is."

Shirou blinked. A supposed assignment? What did that mean?

"It means exactly what I said." She said with a smirk and Shirou cursed that he'd let his thoughts show on his face so easily. Judging by the slight twitch on Rin's smirk, she was holding back a laugh, knowing exactly what he was thinking at this moment. "Similarly to how there were records of a Grand that have been shuffled around and turned incomprehensible, this Enforcer was apparently sent out to meet this magus. But any and all records of that order have received a similar treatment.

"At this point, the Department of Policies is struggling to figure out exactly why the Enforcer was dispatched in the first place. Was he a Sealing Designate? Did he already break into the vault and run off with whatever the contents were? Were they dealing directly with the magus and now he has gone rogue? Adashino certainly won't tell us, but you can read between the lines if you're sharp enough. Isn't that about right, Lord El-Melloi?" She spoke, turning back to give the Lord a teasing look.

"Do not call me that. But yes." El-Melloi spoke, his dark eyes glinting with held back annoyance. Or perhaps anger. Something about this case had struck him personally and it was the reason why Shirou was being kept out of the loop, or so he reasoned. "The Enforcer's remains did not give many clues as to how he was killed, but it matched roughly the earlier modus operandi. Adashino claimed that she had divined some clues about the movements of the target, however."

"Leiston." Shirou added in and El-Melloi nodded.

"Though as to how the cover up and break in were achieved, she would not say. I have some ideas, but they're work in progress, still." The Lord turned inward again, his eyes clouding over in thought as he assumed a thinking position as his one hand went to his chin while the other reached for a cigar. "For now, assume that we will be running into trouble before reaching Leiston."

"Alright. I might need to switch out at some point; I need to fix up my gun before we get there if you want me to be of any use in a fight." Shirou said, turning his eyes back to the road again.

Luvia in the backseat huffed at that. As proud hunters and warriors, the Edelfelts were no strangers to modern weaponry, but that did not mean they looked upon their use entirely favorably. Looking up to the rear-view mirror he made eye-contact with her and offered an apologetic shrug. Perhaps she merely found it distasteful seeing him, a former fellow student using guns instead of a proper mystery, when she had commonly attributed their use to her servants. Then again, he had worked as her butler for a short while, so he really didn't understand what she took umbrage with.

"It is how it is." He offered, but it didn't seem to measure for much. Beside him, he noticed that Rin was looking at him intently, but carefully did not say anything. Well, _that_ was always an option, but it was unreliable at best. Since the Grail War and Saber's passing, that sword did not want to remain in his hand. On the other hand; "Guns are handy."

Muttering something unfavorable about spellcasters and barbarians, Luvia took the package and opened it. She began lifting pieces and looking at them one by one, not at all concerned about the fact that her white silken gloves were being stained by the coating of gun oil that kept the weapon from rusting.

"...Do you know how to assemble it?" He asked, somewhat worried that she might simply chuck it out the window if he set her off.

"No. But how hard can it be. Besides, I like puzzles." She said as she carefully lifted two pieces and tried them together. He winced a little, but chose to say nothing. It wasn't like he was intimately familiar with the rifle either, merely having handled one on occasions before. Beside the blonde, Lord El-Melloi seemed to perk up as well, at the word "puzzle". Together they began to silent mull over the disassembled rifle with intense eyes.

Shirou sighed quietly, wondering for the _n_ th time why he never turned down these jobs, despite knowing how peculiar and troublesome magi always were.

* * *

They arrived at Leiston a few hours before noon.

The cloudy sky overhead promised rain and very few people were bothering to even step outside, giving the town a slightly abandoned and empty look. Lord El-Melloi's mood matched the town's atmosphere as Shirou pulled the car to a stop. Finding a parking spot was always a chore, but luckily not many people were about today.

As they had neared the town border, Shirou had been instructed to find a certain pub where an Enforcer would be waiting to meet up with them as their main force wouldn't arrive for some hours yet. Acting as a representative of the Department of Policies, the three interested Departments would all have their finger in this pot. All of this reminded Shirou how much he had found the politicking and favor-currying to be a bother back when he had still been a student at the Clock Tower.

He had distinctly remembered Rin sharing that dislike in the past, but seeing her now made him wonder at how much she had changed. She seemed perfectly at ease with all of this, now.

As they found the Enforcer, he noted how Rin had come to deal with it all in a fashion that was very similar to Luvia's detached and distant front of unbridled superiority. The pride and certainty of a noble before commoners; the very same mask she had used to wear in highschool to hide her moonlit persona was now used when dealing with others who walked in that same moonlit world.

Back then he had been quite certain of her as a person, but now he wasn't so sure which one was the real Rin.

They sat down and exchanged curt greetings, postured for a bit and threw some threats one way and the other before the got onto business proper.

The Enforcer was nothing special to look at besides his crocodile-skin longcoat that screamed "enchanted mystic code" to all who knew what to look for. Wearing a tweed coat and beige trousers, with a waistcoat and a neat tie, he looked quite ordinary. Clean shaven, with neatly combed light hair and gray eyes hidden behind horn-rimmed glasses, he had a face that would have been lost in almost any crowd.

As the "hired muscle", Shirou's job was mostly to sit at another table that had clear view of his employer's table and the door at the same time. Getting some querying and curious looks from the locals, he nursed a beer and a bowl of salted peanuts, pretending that he belonged while the other table continued to argue and negotiate, completely undermining his attempts at going unnoticed.

He smiled awkwardly and greeted anyone who looked at him after noticing the loudly arguing bunch seated in the other table.

He'd managed to understand that the Enforcer's hadn't found anything, were pissed off about that and were now trying to lay the blame on someone else—he didn't quite catch that part, the _who—_ while Rin and Luvia talked down to the man as if they had nothing to do with this whole ordeal and found it very much beneath them while still demanding answers, all as Lord El-Melloi tried to play the voice of reason as he was being ignored all around.

All in all, not a bad way spend an afternoon. The beer was local and wasn't anything particularly strong, though the peanuts were awful. Perhaps he should have ordered something to eat, try out the 'local cuisine' as it were?

Still, not a bad afternoon at all.

Well, that was until the explosion rocked the town, the shockwave pushing in the windows with such force that for a second Shirou was absolutely certain that they would break, before settling back with a wobble as the shockwave passed. Everyone in the pub had flinched and most were covering their ears in panic and some were staring wide-eyed at the windows, no doubt sharing his shock or simply frozen on the spot.

Luckily the windows had held, as flying shards of glass would have caused copious injuries to everyone inside.

They had held, if only long enough for the blue bundle to come crashing through the pub front, managing to clip the window while still coming half through the door and sending splinters of wood, glass and brick flying everywhere in a explosion-like impact.

In an instant, his CZ 75 handgun was out and his mind was running at high alert. His eyes went to his employer's table, finding the group unharmed as the missile had flown straight into the bar counter. Ignoring his first instinct of running to check on the person now lying bonelessly on the floor— _no one could survive that, no need to bother_ —he dashed to the now gaping hole into the street. Leaning against what remained of the brick wall, ignoring the loose wood and glass and other debris as he took to a knee, he cautiously scanned the streets outside.

There was no one outside and no damage could be seen anywhere within sight— _the explosion must have occurred somewhere nearby, but not on this street, must have been thrown into the air at an angle over the houses_ —he chanced a look back to the pile of blood, gore, ragged cloth and white bones sticking out, lying motionlessly by the counter. No one had moved, having frozen in place. Lord El-Melloi was scowling as usual, the crease between his eyes was so pronounced that Shirou wondered if it would be possible for the man to hold a quarter in place there.

Rin, Luvia and the Enforcer had adopted defensive stances, kicking over their table for concealment but hadn't moved out yet. His eyes narrowed for a second as he took in the magic in the air; all three were more powerful magi than he was.

Holstering the gun as he found no threats, he dashed up to their surprise visitor and looked them over. It didn't look good. For one, they were most certainly dead—the wounds were far too numerous and mortal for anyone to simply walk off. For another, he now recognized those robes as Executor garb—which would mean a _Church_ presence.

Of course, it was at this moment that a second explosion rocked the town once again.

Turning around to face the opening to the street, Shirou realized it wasn't an explosion after all, not this time. Before his eyes, towering above the houses, stood some kind of eldritch monster. All teeth and murdersome rage, armed with a dozen lashing tentacle-like appendages, the creature slammed down on a house, reducing it to rubble and dust in a single second.

"Wh-what the bloody hell is that...?" Someone asked beside him and Shirou had honestly no idea.

And then it turned to _look_ in their direction.

* * *

Re-edited and uploaded on 9.3.2018


	2. Loop 6-2

**Chapter 2: Loop 6-2**

* * *

"Take cover!" Grabbing the person next to him and pulling him behind the wall, Shirou brought his ragged breathing under control as he clamped down on the irrational terror bubbling forth. "Stay clear of openings!"

The man, the bartender Shirou belatedly realized, nodded numbly at him with wide unbelieving eyes. As soon as the feeling of being _looked_ upon—not to dissimilar to being covered in a hundred slimy fingers, groping at him everywhere, trying to find _purchase_ on his being—passed, Shirou got up and dragged the body of the person who had been launched into the bar behind a table and flipped it for some concealment.

Just in case _it_ looked back again.

Describing it seemed to make it appear even less real in his mind, as he tried to shake the image from his consciousness. A large upright octopus with tentacles strong enough to support itself and claws enough for an entire pack of wolves, all the size of swords and twice as sharp.

No natural creature like that walked the Earth today.

It was big enough to break a building with ease but not quite so large as to accidently destroy one in passing, so staying inside should be better than standing out in the open. At that size, running wouldn't work, but the car might be a decent get-away plan. Its massive form was visible over the top of the building on the other side of the street, its almost serpentine limbs could still be seen writhing as it began to move away at an unhurried pace.

For a moment, there was utter stillness. It lasted until someone realized that there was a monster outside, and that it wasn't in the immediate vicinity anymore, but that it could still come back at any moment.

And then there was mass panic.

Swearing and making eye contact with Rin, Shirou clamped down on the urge to run after the panicking people who ran out into the street. People from other buildings all around them were joining in, jumping into cars and running down the street. They were at least running away, hopefully to safety, he told himself. The monster didn't seem interested in anyone else, as it left as soon as nothing had caught its sight.

"What was out there?" Lord El-Melloi began as he jogged up to the window before blinking, as he laid eyes on the massive monster's receeding form in the distace. "A horror! Why would...? No, it's smaller than _that_ _one_..."

 _He recognizes it_ , Shirou realized. Then he realized that his client was being an idiot.

Jumping out, Shirou dragged him back behind cover. _Just_ _in case_. Looking for eye contact with Rin and Luvia, he asked silently if they had any idea what was going on, but neither seemed inclined to share their thoughts; both were too busy staring at the half-seen monster outside. At least they had the common sense to not stand out in the open.

Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Shirou looked down to the member of the clergy that he was still dragging by the back of the robes. He eyed the body up and down; noting the combat boots and kevlar-lined clothing; the golden cross around the neck; the numerous Black Keys and the half burned book of scriptures sticking out of a pouch on the belt.

An Executor, most likely, as he had already surmised from the robes. But why would there be executors of the Church's will in Britain of all places? They had almost no authority here. Besides, monsters weren't exactly their usual prey as far as he knew. Magi and heretics, vampires and the occasional demon maybe. But actual monstrous beasts?

He wished he could ask this person what the hell she had been doing here as he patted through her gear, looking for clues. And thus he almost jumped out of his own skin as the arm suddenly twitched at his touch. Eyes that had been closed for what should have been the eternal rest of the dead, shot open and he could suddenly feel her gaze upon him.

"You're alive...?" He gasped, unable to believe it. "Rin! Get your ass over here! She needs healing!"

Rin, almost absent-mindedly turned to look at him, before looking down at the woman in his arms. She blinked, uncomprehending until she realized that the woman was still alive. With a jolt, she ran up to him and almost pushed him aside as she looked over the woman, unable to believe her eyes.

"I've got a first aid kit with me. Do you need—" He began, but she ignored him and as he followed her eyes he realized why. The wounds were knitting shut before his eyes, as if time was being rewound, the injuries were closing up by themselves. Still, with the degree of damage that had been inflicted on her, it would take a good while until she was on her two feet again.

Beside him, Rin swallowed in a nervous habit before she spoke out to the woman. "Bow, I presume. I am Tohsaka Rin, currently attending the Clock Tower and a member of the Department of Mineralogy."

The blue eyes locked onto Rin's aquamarine ones and at once a silent conversation seemed to begin between the two.

"We, the Tohsaka have long had an outstanding relationship with the Church." She began and the almost-but-not-quite-corpse-anymore seemed to snort. In effect, a recently shut wound re-opened and a squirt of blood dripped onto the floor. Rin ignored that and didn't miss a beat as she continued. "So I propose a trade. You will require still quite some time for your _Curse of Restoration_ to fix you. If I were to heal your throat and lungs and you were willing to share with us what you know, I will also heal your legs. On the whole, you would be saving quite a bit of time, which I am sure is _most valuable_."

The nun stared a Rin, the moment dragging on for a seeming eternity, before she nodded.

"Do you need anything?" Shirou asked her and she shooed him away. He took that to mean that she would handle it and he got up to leave. He walked over to Luvia and Waver, who were peering out through the window at the sudden sounds of battle that had picked up again in the direction the monster had taken, away from them.

"She's from the Church, still alive too. Rin is healing her for info; looks like an Executor to me. Where's the Enforcer?" He looked around but didn't see the man anywhere.

"He was in a sudden hurry, you see this monster showed up..." Waver began sarcastically but stopped at Luvia's glare. "Why is the Church here?"

The Lord seemed to be asking no one in particular, but Shirou shrugged anyhow and looked around the street. Apparently people all over had begun noticing something was off and had begun to flock to the streets from their homes. Based on the sounds, the whole town was in an uproar but many were still merely curious rather than afraid. Biting back a curse, Shirou looked to Lord El-Melloi.

"Go help Rin; cover her while she's healing. I'm gonna go take a look up top." Shirou said, brokering no argument from the Lord, who didn't actually seem to be too perturbed at being ordered around. "Luvia, see if you can get the people to evacuate the town. If the Church is here then a Dead Apostle hanging around isn't out of the question. The last thing we want right now is for a whole host of fresh Dead on top of everything else. The Enforcers can handle the memory wipes later."

She nodded, seeing the logic even if she didn't quite agree with being the one forced to do it. With the people living here scattered about, it would mean more work for those who would be hiding the event after the fact. The Church and Clock Tower would probably prefer it if the whole town simply died, but they weren't in the habit of wholesale slaughter in towns as big as this.

They would fabricate some disaster and gather everyone up and then mass hypnotize everyone. Something would be made up to cover up the events and life would go on as if nothing had happened.

But Shirou did not particularly care about that as long as the people survived. Not hearing any objections or arguments, Shirou got up and exited the ruined bar. Scanning the street, he didn't spot anything out of the ordinary, so he turned around and looked over the buildings around them. The bar was a two storey building; the first floor looked to be apartments based on the homely curtains and potted plants he could see. Presumably it was the ground floor establishment's owners' home.

The building next to it was a three storey office of some kind and looked to be fit for his needs. He entered through the front door and made his way to the stairs. It was the tallest building in the immediate vicinity and would have to do.

Making his way to the second floor, he had to kick down a balcony door to gain access outside, but within a minute of entering the building he had made it to the roof and could look relatively well over the rest of Leiston.

"That's not good."

His sharp eyes spotted several fighting figures, dotted around the town. By his count there were at least four of the great monsters, all being engaged by various groups that were clad in the dark garbs of the Church, and at least a dozen smaller ones that were being handled with more success by other robed figures. To the west at the outskirts of the town, he could see a group of people that looked like they could be from the Clock Tower, but they were studiously not taking part in the conflict even as they seemed to be observing it.

The civilians it seemed were making good progress on getting the hell out of dodge, avoiding the conflict zones as well as they could. Though for the most part, people were still only just now peering out of their houses and workplaces to find out what all the racket was about.

Making his way down again, he exited onto the street again. It was unlikely that the police would show up to harass them, given the metaphorically bigger fish to fry around at the moment, so the bar functioned well enough as their base of operations for the moment.

Running by the car, he picked up the rifle and the ammo and made his way back to the bar. Noticing that the Church woman was finally in good enough shape to sit up, Shirou made his way there and looked over the rifle.

He had been worried about the lock and some of the smaller parts, but it seemed everything had been assembled properly by Luvia and Waver. The L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle, also known as the "Inch-pattern FAL" had something of a reputation among gun users around the world. It had been adopted as the main arm by many militaries around the world for the past five decades, so acquiring several hadn't been particularly difficult for his agent. It's general design had lead to its use around the world in all kinds of conflicts and climates, even managing to acquire such fame as being called the "right arm of the free world". While the British variant had only a single-fire mode, the reinforced stock and a variety of other small modifications made it a fairly reliable rifle to use.

To make up for the lack of automatic fire, his trigger finger was more than fast enough to empty a magazine into a target.

The 7.62 ammunition was generally considered to be somewhat overpowered against human beings, designating the rifle to the general support role of a battle rifle by most standards. But in the moonlit world you generally wanted to err on the side of overkill. It still wouldn't do a thing to one of the giant monsters outside, regardless of the relative over-performance of the round.

The long barrel and rugged design made it reliable up to an 800 meter effective range and an average firing velocity of 823 meters per second; it was a tool he could comfortably work with. Of course, its length and dimensions made it rather cumbersome to hide, thus dissassembly and assembly were a must during travel.

As he set down the box next to the counter, where Rin and Luvia were sitting, he eyed the now almost healthy looking woman in rags with some awe. Her healing abilities were top class, even without Rin's assistance. It almost reminded him of himself, back when he had first been thrust into the battles in the moonlit world.

That artifact was long gone, however, and pining for the past was useless.

"There's four of those big things; I don't understand how we missed them earlier. There's several more similar but smaller creatures as well. There's more Church people fighting them and there are other players outside of town, standing by and just observing for now." He reported, looking from Rin to Luvia to Waver—who had poured himself a drink and was smoking a cigar, almost casually lounging about while in deep thought—in turn.

"Yeah, that fits with what Bow said so far." Rin said, glancing at the woman who sat quietly and recovered her strength. _Bow?_ Where had he heard that name before? It didn't matter.

"Could the outside party be the target's? This sudden appearance of monstrous beasts in a populated zone cannot be unrelated." Luvia spoke up. "Though I do not see how someone managed to get one, much less four of them, to act in such a manner. Such things should have receded from the world of man a long time ago."

Lord El-Melloi acted more withdrawn, deeper in his thoughts than usual, seeming to have some idea of what was going on but not offering his thoughts to the rest of them. Shirou shrugged, zipped shut his jacket and opened a box of ammunition, as he flipped the switch in his mind.

"—trace _on_ ,"

Rin gave him a queer look, but the others didn't notice his use of an aria. He recalled the image of the item, something he had gone out of his way to learn after finding a model that was to his specified liking, fitting his needs and his form perfectly.

With a flash of softly shimmering light, the chest rig appeared on him as if by magic. Snug at all the right places—but not limiting his range of motion and movements, having room for five extra magazines and a waterbottle by the side—it offered most of what he really needed, with a few more useful pockets here and there.

A second later with another series of flashes, a heap of magazines and a simple two point sling appeared in the box, and without further delay he began opening the ammunition boxes and filling the magazines with bullets with expert precision. Apparently this had not gone unnoticed.

"That has to be the most unusual use of Gradation Air that I have seen to date." El-Melloi spoke, without a hint of the usual reproach or disdain Shirou would expect from a magus at seeing such common use of a mystery. Shirou looked up and shrugged non-committally and continued to load ammunition into his empty magazine and add them to his person. "You haven't seen much, yet."

That piqued the Lord's interest, but Shirou ignored it as he continued with his gear.

"Nevermind that. Bow, why are you here? Why would the Church be here, now?" Rin, ignoring the byplay as she looked over the worst of the wounds that she had now healed, spoke with a voice that brokered no other discussion to be had in the room.

The blue haired nun looked over the group around her, before sighing. Shirou got the impression that if the Tohsaka magus hadn't made a deal to heal her, she would not have been particularly willing to talk with any of them.

"One of my superiors ordered myself and a platoon of Executors to travel to Britain, to investigate something that had drawn his interest. We were ambushed as we arrived," she spoke with a soft voice that possessed a gravitas that belied her slight frame, as she glanced at the clock on the wall that had managed to survive her explosive entry into the establishment. "To free myself of one such creature's clutches, I was forced to detonate myself along with several of my keys... Well, you know the rest of it from there."

Shirou frowned at that. The nun obviously was not going to elaborate further, which struck him as a bit unhelpful. Regardless of the bad blood between the Church and the Clock Tower, he had expected her to a bit more cooperative. Hadn't Tohsaka mentioned her own, long-standing relationship with them? Kotomine had been one thing, but...

"Of course. Are you in need of any further assistance? We, I am sure, would certainly be willing and able to assist you." Rin spoke with a smile, giving Waver and Luvia a pointed look to emphasize that they should keep their mouths shut while she _negotiated,_ as they looked like they wanted to butt in.

But, the nun shook her head.

"No. You know who I am, so you understand that your healing was not exactly necessary. Convenient perhaps, but not something I could not have survived without. This is the extent of its worth to me. I am leaving." And with that curt dismissal, the woman rose and with somewhat wobbly steps left the bar.

They all stared silently at her leaving, before turning to one another again.

"So, who is she? Should we follow her?" Shirou asked, not quite sure what to make of all this. All three magi proper gave him a pointed look. Rin sighed and gave him a queer look, as if to say 'what am I to do with you'.

"She's not just your average Executor, Shirou. She's _Bow_ of the _Burial Agency_." Rin began, acquiring her usual lecture position. Shirou held a slight feeling that she had been waiting just for such an occassion; to be able to lecture at him once more.

"Number 7, I believe." El-Melloi interjected, making her scowl at him for interrupting her before she could get started.

"Yes. While the Executors are the military arm of the Church, the Burial Agency is something like their special operations. You could almost say that they are what Enforcers are to common magi, but that would honestly be understating their capabilities. The wetworks to what wetworks usually is. Each and every single one of them is a force that we cannot afford to tangle with. More importantly, anything that can take one of them out—or near enough as it was with her—is something we should not be dealing with directly." She continued, finishing with a meaningful look at the Lord, who merely scowled back.

"But," Luvia interjected, having been in completative silence for a long while now. "If they are already here, then they must have been dispatched by the Church already much earlier. Could they really have made it all the way here overnight, if they were chasing the same lead as we were?"

Waver and Rin turned thoughtful at that. Shirou vaguely mused that given the Lord's appearance and the suddenness of his hiring, that whatever had spurred them into action must have occurred in the early hours of the morning or even the previous night. Assuming the Executors and this "Bow" had been at the Vatican, or even somewhere on the continent where the Church's powerbase was at its strongest, could they have been organized and dispatched so quickly by the same event as his companions had been?

"Seems unlikely." He mused.

It was possible, but generally he had observed that the larger an organization, the slower it would be to react. Fanatics or no, it should be difficult to organize the arrival of an entire platoon into Britain at such short notice.

"No." El-Melloi spoke, looking up as he held one hand to his chin. "If they're lead by who I think they are—this 'superior' of Bow's—then it is entirely possible they would have had early notice and been able to depart much earlier than we were."

"How long did you wait for my arrival? Did picking me up slow you down?" Shirou asked, trying to get a feel of the timeline of events. El-Melloi gave him a look and then shook his head.

"No. I needed a bodyguard, someone who is not a part of another faculty or acting on their own agenda." El-Melloi said with a pointed look at the two female magi. "But finding you was just a phone call and a car ride. Hardly half an hour.

"No, the Church likely had forewarning. We are moving out. Miss Tohsaka, Miss Edelfelt. Do you think yourselves able to take out one of the Horrors if the need arises?" The Lord acquired an aura of authority as he stood up, his long hair curtaining his furrowing brows as he chewed on his cigar.

Rin and Luvia both smirking, mirroring one another more than they realized before looking at one another, as if challenging the other into seeing who could take out one first.

"It will cost a jewel or two, but I do not see why I could not. That does not mean I intend to charge one just right now, those zealot churls have it well in hand, do they not?" Luvia spoke with more than a hint of pride before giving Rin a sly look. "And I would not want to bankrupt my fellow student by forcing her to keep up with me, now would I?"

Rin growled at that, her hand shooting into her pocket and pulling out four radiant gems held between her fingers, as if to show that she most certainly would not lose when it came to firepower.

"Good. Let's move out." The Lord spoke with an air of finality, ending any argument before it even begin as he strode out of the bar with his dark longcoat fluttering behind him.

Shirou sighed as he jogged to take point. It wouldn't do for his employer to die because of a flair for dramatics.

"Sir, I'll take point. Rin you walk with the Lord as center, Luvia you take the rear. Cover our backs and don't blow me up if anything shows up, alright?"

The two women gave him a queer look at being ordered, but seeing Waver play along they held their tongues and did as told with sullen faces. Shirou had to wonder, were they always this childish? They hadn't changed one bit since he had last seen them, in that regard.

The short walk to the car was uneventful, despite the sounds of battle in the distance keeping the situation tense.

Taking the wheel again and driving much slower than earlier despite the empty streets, Shirou kept an eye open for anything. They were almost jumped by a smaller monster, a Horror as El-Melloi identified it, but Shirou pushed pedal to the metal before either Rin or Luvia could try to blow it up and drove right over it.

Shirou thought about ramming the car into it, perhaps saving one or two people from running into such a monster, but he was contracted to do as the Lord El-Melloi wished. And that meant not wasting time with "small fries" when they were looking for the source itself. Besides, cutting the flow at the stem was more important than attacking a straggler, he reasoned.

Finally, after a stop by a small kiosk by the roadside where they pilfered a map of the town, Shirou was guided to start driving towards the location where Waver believed that the fight had originated at. By comparing the locations of all the Great Horrors, he reasoned that in the rough middle point something must have happened.

Pulling to a sudden stop, Shirou frowned as he looked at the roadside some blocks ahead of them.

"What is it?" Luvia asked, clearly annoyed at his rough stop and looking around the empty streets.

"There are two people ahead... But they're not moving." Shirou spoke, eyeing the two figures on the empty sidewalk before scanning the streets and roofs for anything unusual. "I mean, not just standing still, but completely petrified, not moving at all."

There was about 50 meters to the pair, standing by the sidewalk and if it weren't for both figures standing facing away from them, Shirou could have easily enough seen their faces with his sharp eyesight.

"Drive closer, slowly." The Lord peered at the two figures, squinting his eyes and making the crease between his eyebrows even deeper than usual.

Shirou nodded and stepped on the pedal, with eyes scanning the alleys and roads between buildings, roving over the rooftops and poring over the empty windows of the buildings, they slowly rolled forward.

As they neared, the sense of wrongness that Shirou experienced mounted until he couldn't stand it anymore. At 10 meters from the petrified pair, he stopped the car.

"I don't think we should get any closer." Shirou said simply, though unable to put a finger on why.

"Keep going until I tell you to stop. That is what I am paying you for." Waver ground out, overriding his complaints.

"I can't sense anything wrong with them. There aren't any bounded fields or curses..." Rin spoke up next to him, holding a glittering red ruby in her hands and using it for some form of dousing as far as he could tell.

Grinding his teeth, Shirou kept going until suddenly, as if he had driven into a wall. The car stopped with a jolt, the engine complaining as the wheels spun in place for a moment before he lifted his foot off the gas. The stench of burned rubber from the tyres spinning in place reached their noses, as the smoke rose in the air. Staring in confusion at the road before him, Shirou rolled down the front side-window and leaned out to look at the road. He couldn't see anything, yet even as he slowly pushed the pedal down the car did not advance.

The grinding sound of metal being compressed snapped him out of his silent incomprehension as he hastily lifted his foot off the pedal. He could see something odd, something about the smoke from the tyres was confusing him but he couldn't explain it. It was forming some sort of bubble, as if stuck on the surface of a balloon or something.

"What is it?" Luvia asked, not able to see whatever was stopping them, from the backseat.

Shirou did not answer, but looked around the car for anything loose to grab. Not finding anything usable in the rather sterile new car, he scowled and reached to a rifle magazine in his chest rig and removed a single bullet.

"What are you doing? What's going on?" Rin asked as well, not understanding why they had been jolted and stopped.

Shirou ignored her as well as he leaned out of the window and with one hand flicked the bullet forward. Expecting it to land ahead of them, Shirou blinked as it froze in mid-air and mid-spin roughly where the car had stopped as well. Almost like someone had caught it, it hung in the air, un-moving.

"There's some kind of... sticky barrier here...?" Shirou hesitated, looking back at the others. The magi were all staring at the mid-air bullet with confusion, awe and apprehension.

"Bu-but there shouldn't be anything there! There's no reaction from my magical energy!" Rin spluttered.

"Whatever it is, do not touch it directly." Waver said with grave seriousness and Shirou agreed with a silent nod.

"I'm going to try and back out of it." Shifting the car into reverse and turning to look behind him, he eased the pedal down. The engine came to life and began to make noise, but the car did not budge. Shirou furrowed his brows and floored the pedal and suddenly with another jolt and a screech the car went into reverse and almost slammed into a lightpost as Shirou almost lost control of the car.

He blinked as he got the car under control, at the front of the car that had been wrenched apart and the bumper and some of the paint that was hanging in mid-air, just like the bullet.

"It... got stuck and was torn loose?" Shirou mumbled, almost unable to believe it.

"Alright. Everyone out, this... We need to figure this out." El-Melloi spoke, getting out of the car without further ado. Shirou started, hastily setting the car in neutral and putting the handbrake on before he jumped out and readied his rifle. Scanning the streets once more, he settled next to the car well away from whatever it was before them.

The Lord had re-lit his cigar, that he had started in the bar and was inhaling great big breaths of the smoke, obviously fighting back the urge to cough. You weren't supposed to inhale cigar smoke, Shirou knew, and he thought there might be some sort of magical reagents in the tobacco as it itched his nose something fierce whenever he smelt it.

With his lungful of smoke, the Lord slowly neared the boundary that the car had been stopped at, exhaling a long plume of smoke before him and only following as it did not freeze in place. Shirou shook his head and turned around to scan the area again; his job wasn't to gawk at the magus Lord, but to secure his back.

"Don't touch it directly." He gave one last remark to Rin and Luvia, who looked at him as if he was being silly for even suggesting they would do something that stupid, and then turned around to begin a scan of their surroundings.

He hadn't particularly taken note of where they were before, as he had been busy looking for anything unusual, but now that they had stopped and might have to stand their ground here he took the time to analyze his surroundings.

Another regular English street; a two-way road with a sidewalk on both sides, two storey buildings on either side, with mixed apartments and stores of various kinds doting their sides. The windows were empty and the lights were for the most part out. Aside from the quiet rumble of the stationary car and the fighting in the distance, it was deathly quiet.

Turning to give a glance to his companions, Shirou noted that El-Melloi had blown smoke in a pattern, mapping out the extent of the barrier with the airborne smoke particles. It seemed to encompass a bubble around the two petrified statues who were standing on the sidewalk, explaining why they were simply standing there. The bubble barely covered the side of the road they had been driving on, it seemed.

Curious, both about the two people standing there and if there was anything on the other side, Shirou carefully walked around the bubble. Making sure to check his front with his rifle, so as not to get caught himself incase the barrier suddenly extended over the road, he made his way around.

Once there, he observed the streets, windows and the rooftops, but finding nothing he turned to look at the pair. His eyebrows rose in surprise.

One was a thin elderly priest, garbed in a dark cassock and with a patterned brown stole of the clergy hanging on his shoulders. With white hair, round glasses and a warm smile, the man looked the very image of the kind, elderly priest an entire community could turn to for advice, help and support.

What surprised Shirou was the priest's companion. Blonde hair and red eyes. The happy smile, as if a young girl out on an outing, unbalanced Shirou for a moment and he wondered if this woman could somehow Charm him despite being obviously stuck, but he shook his head.

She was beautiful, for sure. But this was hardly the time for admiration.

Red eyes, take heed. He had only seen a few beings with red eyes before. Most notably, Gilgamesh. More commonly, _The Dead_. Vampires and the Church generally did not get along, so this smiling and friendly pair struck him as very odd.

"Unless... The White Princess?" He mused, remembering vaguely the existence of a few bloodsuckers who had something resembling a non-hostile relationship with the Church. The fact that she was outside during daylight hours seemed to support that theory. Unless she had been frozen in this state before the sun rose. But would a vampire survive the sunlight, even inside a bounded field of stasis? He was vaguely sure that the True Ancestors should survive direct sunlight, but it seemed somehow improper to find one simply standing around in a little British town in the middle of nowhere.

"Hmm...?" Rin came walking up around the bubble, just as cautious as he had been, until she noticed the pair's features and froze in place. "Wha—!"

Rin's shout caught the attention of El-Melloi and Luvia, who had been discussing the field and were now staring at him curiously.

"If I'm not mistaken, we're looking at a True Ancestor." Shirou said simply. This caught the two's attentions, and they hurried to walk around for a look as well, freezing in place next to Rin as they saw the faces.

The three all began to say something, turned to one another with wide eyes and quickly devolved into an argument. Shirou, not really understanding what the fuss was about, turned to look around instead as he resumed his perimeter watch.

Looking back the way they had come, he quickly noticed movement.

He wasn't sure whether to groan that the _horror_ had decided to follow them and had decided to bring friends along for the ride, or to be happy that he would be able to kill it before it hurt any innocents.

"Contact." Shirou said, in a cool tone of voice as he loosened the quick adjustment strap on the two point sling, making the rifle fall down to hang by his thigh from where it had been snugly against his back. The three gave him curious looks, not understanding what he'd just said but noticing his actions.

His right hand found the rifles grip and with a smooth motion he drew forward the L1A1 and in the same motion he flicked the switch from S to R, bringing his left hand to the forestock he had already the closest of the three monsters in his sights.

Three gentle but rapid pulls caused three loud reports of gunfire in rapid staccato-like succession, Shirou slightly rocked back at the recoil of each shot but his shoulder absorbed most of the force and dispersed it through his lowered stance as he leaned into the rifle. All three rounds hit, but the horror barely even slowed down despite the three obvious geysers of bodily fluid exploding out of its center mass after impact.

"Wha-What?" He heard Rin ask, but ignored it.

They advanced; like a boneless hand with too many fingers, jumping and crawling in a manner that was as disgusting as it was rapid.

Highly mobile with extreme endurance and prodigious self-regeneration to top it all of. He noted with calm indifference as the bullet holes sealed shut without issues as the three monsters picked up their speed. Roughly the size of an adult man, the horrors obviously possessed strength far beyond that as they closed in for more rapidly than any normal man could move.

"Rin, Luvia. Can you handle one each?" Shirou looked back, the two women had finally realized what was going on and responded with nods. Turning to look at his client, Shirou could feel the sudden _thrum_ of magical energy in his bones from the two women. El-Melloi could obviously feel it just as well, going by his scowling expression as he noted the two. "Sir, might I suggest you get to cover?"

The Lord scowled at him in turn, but did as told. As long as there weren't more of them in hiding, it should be fine.

Turning back to the horrors, now at 200 meters and closing, Shirou took aim once more. They were advancing without formation or tactics, but were still far enough apart that the two magi wouldn't be able to take them out with one jewel. At least, based on his memories of their performances in the past. And the _horror_ s were fast enough that a throw had a good chance of missing at longer ranges.

If they came in all at once it could be troublesome, so he would need to scatter them somehow. He had shot at center mass, going by the human logic of assuming that most of the vital organs would be located there. But with creatures such as these, that logic was of little use.

"Therefore..." He took a slow, steadying breath as his pupils dilated, mirroring his sharpening focus as they absorbed all the light they could. The world turned to a black and white blur around him as he _aimed,_ the features and movements of the monsters becoming clearer in his sight.

 _Click,_ Bang— _Click,_ Bang— _Click,_ Bang— _Click,_ Bang— _Click,_ Bang— _Click,_ Bang— _Click,_ Bang...

He emptied his magazine in one exhale, shifting aim with every shot as he targeted the two rear horrors. Emptying the 27 rounds into the tentacles as they moved, the two rear horrors stumbled and fell behind as the lead one continued to advance with abandon.

His shoulder ached a slight bit from the rapid firing, but he ignored that as he raised his rifle and replaced the now empty magazine with a fresh one, casting aside the empty magazine somewhere he could pick it up later if he survived. Five times thirty rounds left. Correction, minus the one round he threw at the weird bubble.

Chambering another round, he kicked off towards the advancing lone horror. Thirty, twenty, ten meters, the distance between them shrunk in an instant. Given his armament he _should have_ preferred to stay at a distance rather than to run right into the thick of it—but given that the rifle had proven itself quite ineffective and having the need to disperse the three horrors—Shirou opted to get close enough to get the lead one's attention, so it would focus solely on him.

At eight meters, it pounced. All of its tentacles split wide open, like a hand reaching out to grab him as the round mouth full of finger-long teeth extended out to pierce into him and kill him in one wet crunch. Shirou leaned back and let himself fall on his back, transferring the energy from his sprint into a slide as he raised the rifle and gave the horror a point-blank range five burst of rifle fire as he slid underneath it.

The thing made a sound of pained displeasure, or enraged excitement, Shirou couldn't really tell as it hit the ground again with a wet squelch and writhed in place for a second with tentacles flailing all about. Getting to his feet without stopping, he spotted the two incoming horrors and took aim again. This time on his knee and at much closer range, he didn't need to concentrate as much as before as he almost casually gave the rear-most horror another ten rounds of 7.62, making it stumble and fall again and giving the second one a slight head start.

The first horror, having gotten up again turned its attention onto Shirou, locked onto him like only an enraged predator can as it screeched loudly.

Shirou got up from his half-kneeling position and dumped the rest of his magazine into the monster as he began running in a zig-zag pattern to break off its superior sprinting speed as he lead it down a turn away from the street they had been on. Every five steps, the horror would come leaping and Shirou had to dodge to the side to keep from being taken down.

He had managed to distance all three horrors and draw off one of them completely; he would have to leave the other two to Rin and Luvia. With another deft motion of hands, the empty magazine was discarded and a fresh one was inserted into the rifle.

"This isn't doing much, huh..." Shirou spat bitterly, dodging yet another pounce with a leaping roll that ended with him behind a car as the horror wrapped itself around a roadside tree. Gandering a look at the other two horrors, Shirou ignored the snapping and crunching of wood behind him as the horror made clicking noises with its numerous teeth that tore apart wood as if it were paper mache. "Well, at least it's making you angry."

He gave a snort of laughter and got up again. Shooting it was obviously just an exercise in futility, so he should focus on _immobilizing_ _it_ so that he could bring in something that could take it down.

"Hmm..." Shirou made a thoughtful sound as he took another side-step followed by a roll to avoid the lashing, clawed tentacle of the horror as it charged him again. If he hadn't Reinforced his body and eyes, he would probably already be long dead. "There's an idea."

Lifting the rifle with a smirk, he shot it twice again before he set the gun on S and turned to run. Zig-zagging and dodging at just the right moments, he was able to make it all the way around the block back to where the car and the others were.

Only this time, he was coming in from the opposite side.

"The timing might be... Ah, I should make you jump now once..." He muttered to himself, to keep himself focused as he stopped and wheeled on his heels, avoiding the reaching limbs by the barest of an inch. Then going into a full spurt he ran right at the car, ignoring the whistling and clicking angry noises behind him.

Right about... _now!_ He dropped down to the ground, ignoring the asphalt as it scuffed his elbows painfully despite his coat as the horror came leaping above him and missing once again as it soared over him. Only this time instead of hitting the ground and recovering to leap again at its fallen prey, it came to a sudden stop in mid-air.

Giving the horror a measuring look, Shirou hastily crawled back half a meter just in case it tried to reach out to him despite being stuck already before he got up.

"Guess strange barriers are good for something, after all." His sarcastic comments were cut short as he realized the horror was slowly tearing itself loose, ripping its own claws and skin off where it was stuck. "Oh no _,_ you don't.

"—trace _on_ ,"

A simple wooden pole appeared in his hand. Three meters long and uniformly as thick as his wrist, it was a quintessential big stick. A cheap projection, just something handy when you needed a bit of extra _reach_.

Taking a wide stance, he pulled back the pole in his hands. Aimed, and then let loose a mighty swing that struck the horror with a _whoomp_ and smack as it plastered the entirety of the horror onto the bubble where it was well and truly stuck now.

Turning to look at the car, he noticed the Lord El-Melloi giving him a queer look. Shirou gave him a grin as he spun the pole around, as if it were a spear and he were an Irish hero of old.

"Persistent fellow." Shirou noted, giving the horror another good whack—or three—as he thrust out the pole like a spear and made sure the whole of the horror's body was touching the barrier.

"You weren't kidding about the Gradation Air, I see." Waver noted drily.

"You never know when you might need a good stick. Or something pointy." Shirou shrugged. "Any idea what this thing is...? It's pretty tough, I'll say that."

"...It's something that should not be here." The Lord said with deliberate consideration. Shirou didn't know what to say to that given the obvious nature of that matter, so he turned to look at how the other two were faring. Judging by the blast marks—one, two, three of which he could spot—they were struggling just as he had been.

Oh, they could put the hurt on the horrors with relative ease, alright. One explosive jewel was enough to splatter it all over the pavement. But soon enough it would seemingly be reborn out of its own corpse and continue harassing the magi. Shirou could see that the gems they used were not of the strongest kind they possessed; not even a shadow of what he had seen Rin use during the Holy Grail War.

Doubtless the two did not want to waste too much firepower on a familiar, thus they had started on their low end of the spectrum.

"I believe physical damage will not be able to put these things down. A strong fire, or a sufficiently powerful banishing ritual might do the trick." El-Melloi spoke, chomping on his cigar and observing the fights as if they were none of his business.

"Hmm, I guess I should give a hand, then." Shirou mused, checking his rifle. He walked to the car, opened the trunk and took out the box with the rest of his ammo. With the already activated magical circuits and the design fresh in his mind, the projection of another magazine was but an effort of will.

He took a box of ammunition he hadn't touched yet and began to fill the magazine with practiced motions. The sounds of Gandrs' gattling and of cracking pavement and building alike, Shirou figured that Rin and Luvia were striking down the creatures yet not really doing them any permanent harm. Occasionally glancing at the two magi who were dominating the horrors, yet unable to put them down for good, Shirou quickly enough had the 20 round magazine filled.

Exchanging it for the magazine in the rifle, Shirou placed it in his chest rig again in the spot designated mentally as his last magazine.

"Right. Let's see if this does anything." He took aim, flipped the switch on the rifle back to R and fired four rounds. The first was the normal 7.62 round that had been in the chamber, hitting the center mass of the leaping horror again as Rin fired another burst of Gandr at it. Neither the bullet nor the Scandinavian curse seemed to do much.

But the next three rounds drew angry red lines in the air, as clearly visible beams of light despite their incredible velocity and as they hit the horror it stumbled. Almost as if it had been surprised, it tripped and began to make pained whistling noises and clicking its teeth in rage as it writhed on the ground.

"Hey, Rin! Try using fire!" Shirou, having confirmed that tracer rounds at least _hurt_ the monsters, proceeded to give one of its tentacles a two round burst before he gave Luvia's horror a five bullet greeting as well.

Both magi, top-of-their-class once-in-a-hundred-years-geniuses, realized nigh instantly that fire did not seem to heal as easily as the pure explosive force their jewels had inflicted and began to chant something as they jumped back. With both horrors on the ground, wriggling in pain and making their _tkli-tklii_ clicking sounds, the female magi had plenty of time to finish their spells.

"Set!"

"Sign!"

Twin fire-whirls erupted as a pair of gems were thrown, followed by the screech of the two horrors as they died in the middle of massive conflagrations. Everyone present waited with baited breath to see whether the monsters would recover from that as the fire died away. Ten second passed, twenty, thirty. Finally, as the charred piles remained motionless did the two magi let out relieved breaths.

"Khh... I wasted a topaz for nothing." Rin ground her teeth as she drove her heel angrily into the ground and kicked at the pile of disintegrating ash.

Shirou wanted to huff in amusement, but knew better.

Judging by the blast marks around him, either one had first thrown a jewel thus the other felt that it was acceptable to do so as well. This would probably be followed by some posturing until they realized the horrors would regenerate and then Luvia would throw another, thinking it a fluke while Rin would grind her teeth while worrying about her finances.

"Oooohohohohooh—! What is this, Miss _Tohsaka_? Are we suffering from financial troubles? Oh my. Oh, my!" Luvia leaned back, placing her hand before he mouth as if she were a noble lady who did not wish to show her open mouth as she demurely laughed. Of course, given Luvia's personality, she took this opportunity to loudly and deliberately laugh, completely contradicting the original meaning of the gesture. "I am not without pity. No, as a true noble I am _most_ charitable and kind. Indeed, miss Rin, you need only _ask_ and I will happily take you in my employ as a maid! Oooo _hohohohohooh_ —!"

"In you dreams, drillwig!"

"D-drillwig?! How _dare_ you—"

Shirou tuned out the pair and turned to El-Melloi who was observing the last remaining horror from a few meters away, still writhing and stuck.

"I definitely did not come prepared for this." Shirou said with a scowl at the creature, as it was desperately trying to tear itself free to no avail. Waver gave him a look that said ' _it looked like you did pretty well, to me_ ', but Shirou shook his head. "I'm down to half a box of tracers—ten bullets—and regular 7.62 barely slows them down. Blew almost half of my entire munitions in one fight... Should have brought a crate of grenades or at least a shotgun with incendiary shells with me."

"Will this be a problem?" The Lord asked, giving Shirou a curious look. Shirou frowned and looked around before shrugging.

"I think I have an idea on how to deal with more of them. I'll have to make a round trip, if possible, to get some more supplies. What about the last one? Should I put it out of its misery or do your want to take a closer look...?"

Waver seemed thoughtful at that.

"These horrors are something that should not be here. I had the great displeasure of running into them once before. But they are an existence that _should not be here_. Not _now,_ at least." Waver seemed to be lost in his thoughts as he looked at the writhing and whistling monster, yet not really perceiving it. "It does pose a good opportunity for some study. Perhaps I will be able to discern something of our mystery magus as well."

Shirou was not sure what to think of what the Lord had meant, so he ignored it as he looked around. The two jewel users had finally stopped their pointless quarreling and were now walking up to them.

"You two, think you can handle the Lord's safety for a while if I go for a quick patrol around the block?" Shirou spoke up, already thinking back to the corner-store they had driven past, not too far away. The two magi looked at and smirked at him, as if asking ' _who the hell do you think you're talking to?_ ' with their eyes.

"Right. Stay out of trouble and try not to kill each other." He smirked and left as they huffed.

Scanning the streets as he jogged with long, easy loping steps, he continued to ponder the things he had seen and how to deal with them. Urban environments were pretty much the worst place to be in, in a fight. In the forest you could listen for approaching enemies, in the plains or desert you could see someone far away, but in the twisted mazes of modern cities you could neither easily hear nor see someone.

It wasn't unusual to only realize someone's presence when they were right on top of you. Sometimes literally.

Fire worked well, El-Melloi had said. But Shirou did not possess such abilities as to conjure up flames, nor had he brought any equipment to cover up for that weakness. Generally speaking, he did not like to use fire. It was too volatile and would spread easily in various environments. And it wasn't exactly a clean way to kill someone; if he had to end someone's life he preferred it to be as quick and painless as possible for them.

But that did not mean that he did not know how to make use of it, if need be. Amusingly enough, this particular trick he had learned when he was still back in highschool, before he had befriended even Tohsaka Rin. He had worked as a part-time employee at a liquor shop and pub, despite being underage at the time and that had lead to some interesting conversations.

It wasn't something he had learned in chemistry, but rather something his English and Homeroom teacher had at one time decided to play around with when the matter of flambé cooking came up. Specifically speaking, it was Molotov Cocktails. He shuddered at that memory, wondering how he had actually survived growing up alongside that crazy woman he had called Fuji-nee. There was also some humor to be had in the fact that he would be using traditional Finnish firebombs alongside the proud Finnish magus; perhaps they could toast this fact later?

Finding the grocery store he had spotted earlier, he walked through the open doors. Finding the entire establishment quite eerie in its silence, he hesitated for a moment. Completely abandoned, yet all the lights and machines still working as if the workers had simply stepped out for a moment. Hearing the battles in the distance and seeing no bloodstains, he hoped that the people had simply run away.

He found the liquor corner after a quick jaunt, noting the cameras and wondering whether he should have covered his face before entering. It probably wouldn't matter. England was somewhat famous for its high amount of closed circuit cameras per capita, to the point where despite their origins as luddites the various magi who worked with covering up the moonlit world after the fact, had become fairly erudite in matters dealing with electronical sabotage. Someone would have to wipe out all the cameras anyhow, he doubted they would check the contents one by one instead of simply mass wiping everything somehow.

It took him another minute of perusal to find something strong enough to actually burn properly. Alcoholic beverages needed to be at least 75 per cent ethanol to burn reliably, but the flame would not be very hot. He was worried for a moment when the strongest he found was locally produced absinthe, which was not quite up to par, until he spotted some import vodka. Proudly boasting triple distillation and 176 proof alcohol content, the Cyrillic letters drew a chuckle from him as he emptied the whole shelf into his basket.

On the way out, he grabbed some baking soda, detergent, triple-A batteries and a handful of plain white t-shirts, he walked out of the store in plain view of the cameras, ignoring the alarms of his basket as he walked out. He thought about leaving a stack of pound bills, but he didn't have enough to cover all that he took and he figured that a big chain store would have insurance of some sort anyhow.

Hurray for petty robbery?

The way back took a while longer with all the stuff he was carrying, but by the time he'd made it back he estimated he had been gone for perhaps only 30 minutes. Luckily, nothing seemed to have happened, aside from the one horror having been dissected and silenced.

"Hmph. Took you long enough." Rin gave him a calculating look, her eyes roaming over his "purchases" with curiosity. El-Melloi seemed as curious until a hint of realization entered his eyes and the man ignored him again.

"Sherou, really? Do you think that a _polttopullo_ will truly help you against one of those monsters?" Luvia seemed to have guess his intentions instantly, recognizing the stuff he had acquired quite easily. The odd Finnish word sounded strange, but he presumed it's use was on purpose by her. Especially since Rin seemed even more curious and determined to not show it once she realized Luvia knew what Shirou was planning.

He rolled his eyes at the two and sat down.

"So what did you find out?" He asked the Lord as he began to set the various ingredients around himself.

"Hmmh." The Lord opened his coat, looking for his cigars but thought better of it as he realized he was down to a mere four. "It is as I suspected. The horrors are not familiars or even contracted monstrous beasts. Rather, they have simply been brought out and let loose. To distract and buy time, I suppose.

"It coincides with what has been done to the vampire and the priest, as well. Were it simply a paralyzing or petrifying trap, the White Princess could no doubt smash her way through any number of them."

"I still find it hard to believe that someone like her could be so... easily contained." Rin interjected, looking at the two figures with unreadable eyes.

"No, the White Princess is hardly contained. Not in the true sense of the word. Rather she has not yet even realized that she has been afflicted with any kind of hindrance. So, delayed would perhaps be the right word." El-Melloi looked almost admiringly at the two frozen people, no doubt thinking about the function of the barrier rather than the persons inside. "The sealing designation vault contained the crest of a magus who had been studying bounded fields that could control the flow of time, I managed to figure out despite stubborn silence the Department of Policies gave me when I asked. Additionally, some of the materials remaining of the magus we are chasing refers to work on the nature of time as well. I believe that our monsters here are something that was once brought forth in this location through the original means of their summoning, a long time ago, and through the use of this unknown time mystery were brought out again. Plucked, from their original time, so to speak."

"Wait a minute. How does that make sense? How do you even know these monsters if they are so rare?" Luvia asked as she crossed her arms, her finger tapping the crook of her arm.

The Lord sighed and seemed the deflate with that as he sat down on the hood of the car.

"Some decades ago... I participated in the Holy Grail War of Fuyuki." El-Melloi began, causing Shirou too look up and eye him critically. The Lord waved his look off with an irritated look of his own. "I was fortunate enough to survive, having been foolish enough to thrust myself into the battles of beings far beyond myself.

"One of these beings was the long deceased legendary figure Gilles de Rais. History is unclear of the truth of the matter regarding the man's supposed evils, but in the war as he appeared he was the true embodiment of evil. He possessed a book which allowed him to summon and control monstrous beasts. The very same horrors we have met here, once ran rampant on the streets of Fuyuki City."

Beside Shirou, Rin stiffened up and seemed to be lost for a moment, before she ground her teeth and pretended she hadn't reacted at all. Only Shirou noticed, but he said nothing as he continued to listen while working.

"Originally these horrors were called forth by a man named Prelati, who dived into the depths of depravities and evils that would have beeen best left alone, for everyone. Through some unknown means he actually managed to create an artefact that could summon forth beings from another world. This artefact, a grimoire wrapped in human skin, was then passed on and has since been lost to time. Some of the leads I followed suggest that he merely translated an existing text, but none of the previous records showed such effects. I found references as old as four thousand years, but none mentioned the existence of the horrors themselves alongside such texts." Waver continued, taking out a cigar and cutting the tip off as he spoke.

Luvia startled at that, giving Rin a conspiratorial look. The two women had a silent discussion with their eyes and Shirou wondered for a moment whether they had formed some form of mental link. There was no reason for two accomplished magi of the Department of Mineralogy to have joined the head of the Modern Magecraft Theories department in this outing unless they had their own interests in the matter.

"Anyhow. I believe that once, in this very village, Prelati summoned forth his creatures. There is usually basis for fictional stories—fiction imitates life, or the other way around as some would insist—and some of the details in one particular author's works are too close for comfort to be mere coincidence."

" _Clairvoyance_?" Luvia seemed to know what El-Melloi was talking about and seemed as much fascinated by the subject as she was horrified.

"Mm, the man did write more than one book telling that dreams are but a way of entering other worlds, did he not? Perhaps he really did dream of times past and put experience to paper." Waver shrugged, lighting the cigar. Shirou wondered whether he should tell his employer that smoking so many cigars a day could be within the contracts protection clauses and using that as an excuse to tell the man to stop smoking all the time. Well, no doubt the Lord knew of the dangers but simply did not care.

"If I am correct, it will take at least a few days before she realizes that something is off and she shatters this bounded field as if it were made out of paper. But, that will undoubtedly be already far too late."

As Shirou listened to them he had poured out roughly a third of each bottle, and had added some of the baking soda and detergent to the strong alcohol. He had checked the contents of the products and figured they should work as thickening agents and was pleasantly surprised to see that he hadn't been wrong. Closing the bottles, he would shake the contents until it had thickened enough for his liking.

Opening the battery packages, he carefully added two or three into each bottle, ensuring that they would break on impact as the hard objects inside would shatter the glass even if the outside impact didn't. Then he tore strips of long white cloth from the shirts and dipped them into the bottle, leaving a small bit around the opening as he closed the twist corks.

Testing with one doused strip, he managed to confirm that the mixture worked as he nearly burned his fingers with the lighter. Now armed with 32 bottles, he looked at the improvised weapons critically. He would have to open the cork, pull out the soaked cloth and light it and then close the cork again so that it could safely lit. Then after lighting the cloth, he would be able to toss the firebomb at his target and hope it worked. Without the cloth, the liquid would not ignite. Without the cork, the liquid would spill everywhere as he threw it.

Hardly the simplest, quickest or easiest of maneuvers in the middle of a fight, especially given how agile the horrors had demonstrated themselves to be.

Looking up to the three magi, deep in discussion about the barrier, Shirou looked at the sky. Judging by the height of the sun—when he could see it, hiding behind the thick gray clouds—he guessed that it was around lunch time. It had already been over an hour since the emergence of the great horrors, yet no one had arrived to deal with it.

"I'm going to go take another look up top." He said, but none of them paid him any heed.

Finding a two-storey building, but noticing that the door was locked, Shirou instead simply climbed up top after finding a ladder to the roof on the side of the building and took note of the surroundings. Finding the four great horrors still doing battle with the already familiar Executor figures, Shirou felt a great sense of respect for the abilities of the Church's combat specialists at that moment.

Their tenacity and toughness was first rate, at the very least.

Scanning the surroundings of the town, he spotted something resembling a camp to the west, where he had seen figures standing before. It looked like the escaping townspeople had been rounded up. Presumably through the use of wide bounded fields around the roads to catch and herd people for handling. Choking down the urge to go check on them, he reasoned that those were the Clock Tower's people, who had simply collected all of the mundane population and would keep them safe.

He also noted that despite his earlier estimation, there did not seem to be overly many of the lesser horrors about. Had they all been slain by the Executors or had they simply drawn into hiding?

Returning back to ground level, he noticed that his companions seemed to have reached some sort of conclusion in their discussion, as Rin and Luvia set off to walk around the time barrier again.

"What's the plan?" Shirou asked as he walked up El-Melloi.

Giving him a cursory look before returning to observing the pair of magi, the Lord did not speak for a while.

"The Enforcer we met earlier did not have any leads for us to follow up on. While he could have lied to throw us off, given that I have the Department of Policies behind me on this matter, it does seem likely that we have effectively run out of leads." El-Melloi spoke, as Rin and Luvia began to draw a chalk outline around the bubble, as close to a perfect circle as possible. Given the dangerous nature of the field, they took obvious care and the work was slow. "Therefore at this moment, our only effective lead is the fact that these two were targeted. The horrors were simply let loose and will not provide any clues, I fear.

"Given that our target went out of his way—using an obviously excessive method were it anyone else—to immobilize the White Princess, I am lead to believe that he felt threatened by her presence."

"So by... what? Freeing her, you hope she will lead us to him?"

Waver shrugged, aware that the True Ancestor might not see it quite that way and that they had no way of ensuring their own safety once she was freed. The two stood in silence as they watched the two women work, drawing a more and more complicated and ever-expanding magical circle around the inner circle that surrounded the bubble of hyper-stagnated time. Placing jewels at key locations, the two would often stop and begin discussing some minor detail or facet of their work, descending into heated bickering for a few seconds before reaching some sort of consensus and re-doing the section entirely with renewed gusto.

"You realize that as soon as we begin we'll be sitting ducks out here, right?" Shirou asked, pointedly turning away from the circle in progress as he scanned the surroundings. He could almost hear Waver's scowl as the other acknowledged his point.

"They won't be able to move once they begin and it cannot be done from afar. What do you suggest?" Waver queried.

Shirou looked around and furrowed his brows. The street was too wide for any kind of effective barricading, the buildings on the side were too far away from the circle and there was very little effective cover to be had.

Aside from the obvious, of course.

"Get in the car. Reinforce the chassis and windows, park it next to the circle. That should give us enough protection against horrors, I think. Though it still leaves those two completely vulnerable once the barrier is gone." Shirou finally spoke, mentally cataloguing the various buildings, streets and passages, with their respective properties as he turned to face the Lord.

Waver considered it and chuckled.

"It seems like a good enough plan. I wouldn't worry about those two," He looked at the frozen woman with the blonde hair. "She is much too tough for us to worry about."

"Preparations have been completed." Luvia interrupted the two, looking quite proud of herself. "Fufufu, this field is quite something, but before my talent it will not stand for even a single instant!"

Rin walked up to them as well, scowling at the laughing blonde.

"Shut it, drillwig. Without me, you couldn't even dream of managing this. What talent? What single instant? Really, the only reason this is possible is because _I_ remembered the prismatic resonance theorem, unlike someone else who shall remain unnamed and unremembered." The blonde stopped her preening and turned to face the raven-haired magus, fire burning in her eyes as she took an aggressive step towards Rin.

"Alright, alright. Let's save the gloating for after you manage to free those two. Just to be clear, I will mock you both mercilessly if this whole thing falls flat on its face." Shirou butted in, cutting the argument in the bud.

The two looked at him with narrowed eyes, not quite willing to let the matter drop.

"Oh hoo—You certainly seem confident. What are you willing to bet, then?" Rin smirked at him, walking right up to him and shoving a finger into his chest.

"Indeed. Strong words for someone who could not even defeat a single horror by himself, hmm?" Luvia joined in, an imperious air about her as she sniffed disdainfully at him. "Shall we have him kowtow before us, proclaiming his own lowly worthlessness before _my_ overwhelming talent and genius?"

" _Your_ talent and genius?" Rin ground out, turning to look away from Shirou again.

"Alright, it's a bet. And if you two fail, you'll have to do the same in return!" Shirou shot in, his mouth running before he could register the twinkle in the duo's eyes.

"Fufufu, it is settled then." Luvia smirked and turned to look at Rin. "Excellent work, _Miss_ Tohsaka."

"You too." The raven-haired magus smirked back, before looking at Shirou with a malevolent and teasing grin on her face. "You're just _too_ _easy_ , Shirou."

Shirou blinked, realizing he had been utterly played, before sighing and raising his arms in mock surrender.

"Sure, sure."

"Alright, enough playing around. Tohsaka, Edelfelt. With Emiya we have settled on our course of action. The two of you will Reinforce the car—which Emiya shall drive into place before we begin," Waver gave him a look and Shirou nodded. As Shirou walked off and jumped into the car, he continued speaking. "Once inside the protection of the car, you two will begin your spellbreaking."

"Are we expecting trouble?" Rin asked, raising an eyebrow. The Lord shrugged and looked at Shirou, indicating it hadn't been his suggestion, which seemed enough for the woman.

"Reinforcement? Why not simply cast a bounded field? Reinforcing a car is not a simple thing; too many different parts and materials for a quick enhancement." Luvia opined but El-Melloi shook his head.

"A quick and dirty bounded field will be a beacon for anyone with magical talent, and we might want to simply drive off if the situation looks bad. A bounded field would either prevent that or collapse as we left, leaving us vulnerable in either case. Better to simply use Material Transmutation, as simplistic and crude it may be."

The two thought about it for a few seconds, before agreeing with a nod.

"Alright, then. Let's get to it."

* * *

 **Re-edited and re-uploaded on 9.3.2018**


	3. Loop 2-1 & Loop 3-1

**Chapter 3: Loop 2-1 & Loop 3-1**

* * *

His name was Relchronos de la Torre.

A respected name, for a respected man of a respected lineage, studying a respectable subject befitting his station. Relchronos was a magus granted the classification of Grand, something only a handful could ever hope to achieve, a true mark of distinction among even the highest echelons of the Clock Tower.

By the age of 40, having mastered all the various facets of his craft, he would regularly leave his colleagues in awe of his works. The De La Torre's— _of the_ _ _Tower's__ _, as the name meant_ —had been in the Clock Tower since its foundation, indeed having long proudly proclaimed that their name itself stemmed from the namesake of their organization despite their hispanic roots. Their specialization had also long been Time, the one thing all eventually bowed before, regardless of their origin.

That had been their motto for as long as he could remember, at least; _Time humbles All_.

But that truth also included themselves. The De La Torres had not achieved anything of true note in well over two hundred years, wallowing in the past glories and becoming less and _less_ with every turn of the World. Relchronos' birth had signified a breath of fresh air into their lineage, a ray of hope and glory amidst their ever darkening and declining days.

Relchronos was raised surrounded the glories of a thousand magi with the expectation of surpassing them all. Eventually he managed to survive his way through the offered apprenticeship under the mad Wizard Marshall, surprising everyone, including himself and went on to take the world. Eventually he had achieved all that was asked of him and much, much more.

It was only after he had realized his true potential and goals, that he had decided to eradicate the rest of his family.

They had not been able to provide him with anything of use and had only been hangers on of the most parasitic kind since his ascendance. They had spurred him on, told him how he had a reputation, a past and a standard he needed to live up to. Yet they had never once displayed themselves as capable of living up to that very same standard in anything they did. They were worthless, and the Clock Tower's deafening silence at his actions after the fact proved him right.

No one cared about the De La Torre, for Relchronos de la Torre was all they could never hope to be.

Thus having spent the first 60 years of his life, he had thought himself clever and learned. Never having truly been challenged by his peers at anything he set his mind on, he had worked hard and had received the rewards and accolades he was due for his efforts.

Until...

 _Emiya Norikata_.

If Relchronos had been a once in a hundred years genius, then Emiya Norikata must have been a once in a thousand years prodigy. A diamond in the rough, hailing from the far east, with ideas and theories as unusual as they were riveting.

Relchronos has enjoyed their discussions as much as Norikata had, had been both thrilled and afraid of how the Japanese man would challenge and argue with him, yet been secure in the knowledge of his inherent superiority. They were in the Clock Tower, after all. Norikata _needed_ the Mage's Association and could only continue his research in the hallowed halls of the Clock Tower, couldn't he?

Relchronos of the Clock Tower. Emiya Norikata of the far east. As long as they remained there, their relationship would never truly change. That fact brought him comfort, but also a sensation of... disappointment. Would he ever be _truly_ challenged and excel before that fear, if he knew he could not be replaced or usurped?

The night the young magus had brought forth the strange idea about using a time dilation bounded field to travel to the end of time, to surpass Time itself... It had rankled him. It had terrified him. It had _excited_ him like nothing before ever had in the long and colourful life he had led.

 _I'll talk to him about in the morning again. Maybe, maybe he does have a point after all..._

But then Emiya Norikata took his research and fled, the Enforcers hot on his heels. Leaving the respected Magus of the respected lineage, studying a most respectable mystery, marveling at how lost he felt. How hollow, aimless and hopeless he had felt at that loss.

And eventually, as these things usually go, the escapee had been discovered. Emiya Norikata had been slain and his crest had been brought back by a Freelancer, after the results of Norikata's research had led to an outbreak of the Dead on a small island in the middle of nowhere.

Getting access to the crest had been easy, but without Norikata's genius, it all seemed so meaningless. What should have taken a year, took ten without the quiet Japanese man's assistance and guidance. What should have taken a decade for a genius Grand, took over thirty for the listless and apathetic Relchronos.

Until.

Until he had seen a young girl, carrying something that should have long since receded from this World, something that could be used in means that had been beyond his wildest dreams these past few decades.

Suddenly, suddenly Relchronos had found direction in his life again.

Breaking into the various vaults, using his magecraft to erase his presence from the rest of the World and slaying the girl for her possession had all been easy once he had found in his life the _Why_ again. Having located a suitable leyline on this island, once known as the Navel of the World, he set out to do his final experiment.

Only to realize that he would not be left alone to his work. Enforcers, Magi and even the stray Executor he could have foreseen, but Arcuied Brunestud? Never ever in his wildest dreams had that possibility crossed his mind.

 _It is too late to stop now. If I hesitate, my death is certain._

There would be no mercy for anyone who crossed the True Ancestor and Gaia. Even if he cast away all his research and experiments and threw himself at their mercies, it would change nothing. Which he would never do. Could never do, anyhow. He had come too far, sacrificed too much and lost too many to back down now.

The appearance of the White Princess before him had caused him to panic and only the carelessness of the vampire had allowed him to reach the artefact and allowed him to use the final measure in his arsenal. He had only thought it a theoretical experiment, to confirm his foundations and the basic theory, when he had first drawn the circle required for that.

But it had saved his life.

Time had been rewound, and even before the unstoppable force of nature that was the True Ancestor, he had been _unhumbled_. That realization, that power he now had in his hands... It was _intoxicating_.

Summoning a horde of horrors, which he could perceive in this place's past as clearly as one could see the clouds in the sky, he had found the White Princess and that _other one_ before they could act against him this time. Casting the strongest time stagnation field in the history of the world, perhaps ever, the blonde vampire had been neutralized before she could even appear before him.

Norikata's genius continued to haunt him, even in his greatest accomplishments. Without the Emiya crest, none of this would have been possible. Even if he had managed to replicate the parts necessary for the experiment itself, without the crest he would have fallen to the World's emissary already.

"Ha ha ha..." He coughed more than he laughed at that. That he would still be competing with a man who had been dead for decades. It was ridiculous, yet it was all that pushed him forward. As much to surpass as to complete that man's work, Relchronos would not give up.

His body could not handle the strain very well, hidden in this plane-divergent bounded field that he had painstakingly crafted by folding time in on itself. He was hurrying, instead of taking his time, and mistakes had been rife in his work. Mistakes which lashed back at his self and body.

"Norikata, you little rascal... Just you wait and see..."

Something pinged off of his field and Relchronos was startled out of his thoughts.

"What was that...?" He expanded his consciousness and _perceived_ outside and beyond.

It was a rat. A dead rat, having touched the outer edge of his perimeter and had been zapped by the field. But why would a rat...? Wait, it was the same last time, right before _that person_ had appeared the last time.

"...!" He reached for the central artefact in the very same circle he was sitting in, panic coloring his thoughts.

But it was too late; the plane divergent bounded field crashed around him with the enormous roar of a thousand sheets of glass crashing down a waterfall as a lightning storm raged around him, assaulting all of his senses. All this that happened outside was a thousandfold worse inside his head, as the magical connection to the field magnified the catastrophic failure to such a degree that his head almost split wide open from the sensory feedback.

His brain boiled and his throat turned raw and bloody from the pained scream he let out, trying to keep himself from dying at the backlash. His circuits burned, his body burned, his _soul_ burned with the agony.

As his senses brought his consciousness back to the present, he realized he was close enough to touch _it_ and be safe again, but only if he had the strength to just reach out.

"Huuuuh! There really was something here!" A blonde woman, beautiful beyond words with crimson eyes and a carefree smile came in, skipping inside without any tension or hesitation despite the chaos all around her. After all, she had effortlessly shattered the greatest works he could have ever spun, what had she to fear from him? The wall creaked, shattered windows fell down and the ceiling almost came down on them. She spotted him, lying on the ground and bleeding from the backlash and drained by the magics he had wrought. "Ah! Found you!"

But she was too late; his fingers closed around the shaft.

"—Re _cursus!_ "

The world exploded into a miasma of color and light, of sensation and feeling, before snapping back so abruptly that his soul almost shattered under the strain.

He almost fell over as his knees wobbled, he panted like a dog as spittle and blood flecked the table before him as he leaned onto it for support. He had been lying down but now he has suddenly standing upright, if only barely. His knees felt like jelly and his head swam. But at least the damage to his body had been undone. If only to be wrought again by the dangers of the leap through time.

How had she found him again? Had she broken out somehow? Impossible. Absolutely Impossible. Time humbles All, _No Exceptions_.

Something must have happened. Someone must have interfered.

He stared at the box on the table before him as he breathed slowly, trying to bring his heart back under control again. He had returned to this moment again, when his body was still healthy and hale. His reputation and life back as they had been. This is where it began; the night of fate. He could walk out. Leave everything as it was, no one would know. Even the Deterrent Force would not aim for his neck if he had not done anything at all yet, surely?

He slammed his fist on the table, rage flooding his mind and fire burning in his veins. This place infuriated him; he had toiled and slaved away in this institution his entire life. And for what? This place, the most famous and powerful of the magical institutions, foremost in all fields of true thaumaturgy, and what had it repaid him with?

"No!" He shouted and grabbed the lid of the box and tore it off, again. He stared at the contents, again. A crest, still attached to the skin of a man's back. It was contained and sealed, so as to prevent degradation or damage, but he knew how to work it despite all that, _again_.

In the box were also other items. Binders, folders, papers and books. Notes, clothes and photographs. Anything and everything the Freelancers thought that could get money out of the Clock Tower, under the excuse that it could be related to the Sealing Designate's research.

And by some twist of fate, by some irony of the world, the item that had started all of this lay there, was _still_ there. He hadn't expected it to disappear or anything like that, had known it would lay there, yet the rage in his heart burst aflame anew at the sight it.

He grabbed the pistol that had been lying in the box and threw it with all his might at the wall, roaring at the top of his lungs. Spittle and flecks of blood flew out and he nearly fell over again as his head swam.

It was insulting. It was infuriating. It was intolerable beyond words! That a man of his caliber! To something like _that!_

That a once in a thousand years prodigy like Emiya Norikata had been killed with a completely mundane pistol, was an affront to everything he believed in and had worked for all his life. It was an absolutely unforgivable fact, something that proved to him, that the World was beyond a doubt completely and wholly without any inherent worth of its own.

All that mattered to him now, was reaching the Root.

That cold hard anger re-settled in his belly as he breathed out—with teeth clenched so hard as to almost shatter—but he managed to calm himself. It solidified into his gut, into a hard and cold lump, which seemed to pulsate with his every breath.

His path was clear.

He would have to re-do everything again. Break out all of these things, erase his existence, murder the girl, find his way to the town and set up the ritual. Doing something drastically different was meaningless; he faced the Deterrent Force, it would find him regardless. He ought to maximize his chances and follow the same lines as before, so that he could know beforehand what to expect and could thus work to counter that. But this time, he would continue to observe the White Princess. He would figure out what had happened and would prevent it.

After all, as long as he could set up his ritual circle, he had all the time in the world on his side. He alone would stand at the ends of time and witness the Truth of everything that existed. Nothing could stop him, nothing in this world could break him.

Relchronos de la Torre smirked and stood straight, brushing back his hair and fixing his coat. His hale and healthy body overflowing with magical power and an unmistakable dignity that only _purpose_ could give. After he took what he needed from the box, he strode off with confident steps.

He had an experiment that was decades overdue to finish.

"Of course, I will have to plan a better point in time to return to." He looked out the window, seeing the sun slowly setting in the west. It was the evening before, after all. "I do so hate working through the night, after all."

* * *

 **Re-edited and re-uploaded on 9.3.2018**


	4. Loop 6-3

**Chapter 4: Loop 6-3**

* * *

It was done.

Shirou gave their surroundings one last scanning look after he glanced at the finished magic circle. The car was softly rumbling, the neutral gear keeping the engine running with minimal gas as he sat in the driver's seat.

Everything was set and ready.

Lord El-Melloi sat beside him while their two strongest magi sat in the back, nearest to the barrier as the car was backed right up against the edge of the circle as far as they could make it without being on top of it.

It was close enough for Rin and Luvia, thankfully.

"If we are forced to leave, will that be a problem?" The Lord turned around to look at the two and both shook their heads, indicating it wouldn't be an issue. "As soon as you two are ready, then at your own discretion you may begin."

The Lord turned back around, awkwardly moving his legs as he stared at the pile of bottles stored in his leg-space, wrapped in the leftover shirts Shirou had taken. It wouldn't do for a sudden shock to break these valuable armaments, after all. The Lord seemed annoyed with the tight foot-space he was forced into and out of sheer habit pulled out a cigar, before looking at the pile of firebombs beneath him and thought better of it.

Shirou looked behind him and noted that the two had sunken into a state of concentration, muttering under their breaths as they held various jewels in their hands for focus and resonance. Behind them, the circle began to thrum with light, the lines drawn on the pavement coming to life as the air itself grew abuzz with energy.

"How long will this take?" Shirou turned back around, scanning the streets and rooftops again; so far nothing seemed to be happening in reaction to them.

"Less than a minute, if everything goes well." The Lord shuffled in place as he spoke. "The preparations ought to shoulder most of the work. A marked advantage of jewel magecraft, among many others. As long as their codes are not disturbed, it shouldn't be a problem."

Shirou nodded and said nothing. Assuming that their target was knowledgeable of magic in general, given his rank and age, those jewels would be targeted first. Which brought something to mind that had been bothering him for a while now.

"Do we have a designation for our target? I mean, we don't have a name and it's a bit awkward to keep dancing around that fact."

Waver started at this, as if realizing it only now himself and turning thoughtful.

"You're right. How about—"

The sudden impact and rocking off the car halted all conversation, as a shadow smashed into the windscreen.

"Wha—!" Shirou started. He had quite literally just scanned the street; the horror now rocking their car, smashing its limbs and claws against the car had appeared from literally nowhere. A second impact rocked them, as another horror came from the side at full sprint and rammed itself against the passenger door behind Shirou.

"Tch!" Shirou put his hand on the handbrake and looked back at the two behind him as he revved the engine. They could drive off and lose these two easily, but that would mean interrupting the spell and neither magus seemed inclined to give up just yet, as they continued to ignore the sounds and chaos around them.

"Where did they come from...? A direct summoning? But the magical energy required for something like that from a distance is... But!" Next to Shirou, the Lord seemed to be juggling four different lines of thought as the same time as his head swiveled from side to side, looking at the horrors, the surroundings, the ritual and the field, all in turn.

"Hold on!" Shirou shouted, almost too late, as a larger third horror came barreling in from the front, hitting the car with enough force to send the entire vehicle skidding backwards despite the engaged brakes. The car only stopped once the rear bumper hit the edge of the boundary. Stuck between a horror and hyper-stagnation, they were well and truly trapped.

Well, at least most of the jostling around stopped since the car was now held in place by the bounded field behind them. Luckily the circle hadn't been broken, either.

Behind him, Shirou heard the change in the tone of the two magi. Looking back, he gave them a cursory glance and decided that they hadn't given up yet, but had encountered a setback. Looking at the side-view mirror, he spotted that their car had knocked aside several of the jewels that had been placed in the circle.

Spoken too soon, then.

Scowling, he leaned over to Waver and grabbed two of the Molotov cocktails and looked at Waver.

"What are you—"

"Take the wheel! If you need to, then just drive off!" With that, Shirou kicked open the door and burst out of the car. El-Melloi's reply was cut short as Shirou slammed the door behind him with a kick as he rolled to avoid a lashing tentacle of a raging horror that hadn't yet noticed him but still clipped him, the claws raking the back of his coat.

The three horrors, realizing they had an easier target for which they did not need a can-opener, all turned to look at him now. Teeth and claws clicking, the strange and wet whistling sound they made rising to a heated crescendo before they all stilled.

Predators naturally seek to ambush their prey, thus the horrors were springing themselves before launching, hoping to slowly creep a little closer before they were noticed. Shirou hadn't run off, thus their instinct screamed at them to hold, just for little longer. TO gain the greatest possible advantage before pouncing onto him and rending into pieces.

The tension mounted almost unbearably as the two parties looked at each other, the horrors salivating as they inched closer while Shirou tried to inch backwards.

The moment lasted only an instant and suddenly the one of the windshield jumped for him.

Shirou scrambled backwards, throwing the first Molotov cocktail and hitting the monster square on and dousing it entirely in the sticky mixture as shards of glass and the cloth stuck to it.

He hadn't had time to light it, but that was okay.

Turning on his heel and reaching for his rifle, Shirou turned to sprint for the other side of the street, the three horrors hot on his heels. Feeling the safety come off under his finger and settle on the R, he jumped over a parked car and slid off the hood.

Coming to a stop behind the car so that he had it between himself and the incoming horrors, he crouched down and jumped backwards until he felt the car against his back. The first horror came vaulting over the roof a second later, now loudly screeching and almost vibrating in its maddened bloodlust.

 _Now...!_

Raising his rifle—spotting the doused one as it came to a sliding stop after vaulting over the car, turning back to look at its prey with raised claws and a horrible mish-mash of eyes and beaks underneath its tentacles—Shirou took a bead on the monster.

The trigger was pulled and a single bullet roared out of the barrel, drawing an angry red line in the air and unerringly hitting the doused horror.

And in an instant of light and pained screeching, the horror caught fire as the tracer round lit the Molotov cocktail mixture.

"TE _KI_ LII _II_ — **T** _ **KELI**_ **IIILI** _ **UIII**_ **I!** "

 _One down!_

Grinning almost maniacally, Shirou rolled to the side as the two other horrors came barreling in after the first. Ignoring the screeching, the second came around the car and chased after Shirou as he had turned his roll into a sprint. The third hadn't seen anything and in a repeat of its first appearance rammed itself into the car at full force, managing only to flip the vehicle on top of the first monster, still burning and writhing in pain on the sidewalk.

The second bottle had been smashed and shattered in his hasty vault over the car, so he had left it there next to the car, where it soon caught fire as the trashing horror spread the flames in its flailing. This left him with only his rifle and his left arm doused in the sticky alcohol sludge as he ran, with legs pumping for all that they were worth.

There was no point in wasting tracers, so despite being in full sprint, he deftly switched the magazine with the remaining tracer bullets for a fresh mag. Taking supreme care not to drop the magazine as he slid it into his chest rig, Shirou glanced behind him.

He had run for 6 seconds, covering a hundred meters in his Reinforced state. Bodily Reinforcement could safely and quickly double ones physical performance, which allowed him to not get instantly and horribly maimed by the horrors as they chased after him, but not much more than that.

If he tried to close in and fight with his body, he would be horribly out-matched against these things. Perhaps one-on-one, with as strong weapon... _That sword would... No, no time for idle daydreaming._

The two were hot on his tail, the third one noticeably lagging as it had a late start. Shirou turned on his heel in mid-step, coming to a sliding stop as he raised his rifle. He needed to get back to the car, not run away from it.

The rifle roared and drew an angry line through the air and hit the horror in the tentacle supporting its mass.

Cursing in his mind over the useless waste of a tracer—it had been chambered after the first shot and he hadn't had time to notice or remove it—Shirou shot fifteen more rounds in the space of three seconds, effectively crippling the horror for the moment as its tentacles were shot out underneath it.

Having come to a complete halt, he kicked off and leaped over the writhing and struggling form of the second horror, coming to lock eyes with the third one that was now between him and the car as they dashed at each other.

 _Once, twice_... Could he hedge on third time occurring? It felt strange to assign personality traits to inhuman monsters, but this one had proven itself to be quite stubborn and even a bit stupid.

Letting go of the rifle with his left hand, Shirou's perception of the world crawled to a halt as his mouth opened. The words poured out like molasses in comparison to the celerity of his mind, drawing out the image, form, texture, shape and material in his mind.

"—trace _on_!"

The blanket burst open like a parachute before him, hiding the horror and magus from each other as time snapped back into play in his perception. Counting the steps in his mind and running the simulation in his head a bare second before the real thing occurred, Shirou jumped to the side and rolled at the last second before reaching the already falling blanket.

The horror, true to form and habit, came barreling in and tackled the wool blanket he had Projected to hide his form from sight. Missing Shirou entirely, the mess of tentacle, tooth and blanket rolled as the horror managed to tangle itself entirely in its leap.

Yup, the dumbass did it again.

Shirou, not missing a beat, completed his roll and exploded into a run towards the car.

Ignoring the passengers, he slid to a stop and looked at the circle. Jewels were scattered here and there, but he vaguely remembered their original positions. Kneeling to place those within hand's reach back where he remembered them being, he hoped that Rin and Luvia could re-establish connections with the gems and finished up this ritual quickly.

He could have really used their explosive kind of talents right this moment.

Feeling the hairs on the back of his neck rising, Shirou turned around and raised his rifle to fire. Only to freeze at the sight of the incoming _seven_ horrors. An instant of observation and a barking laugh of exasperation later, he got up and emptied the magazine down range.

Putting two round bursts into approaching horrors to thin them out, he continued to fire with mechanical precision and speed that made him seem like a machine gun in human form for a moment.

He removed the empty magazine, exhaling and inhaling to control his heartbeat.

Walking up to the car door he had slammed shut not 20 seconds earlier, Shirou had exchanged and emptied yet another magazine into the approaching horrors, leaving only one monster that was still coming at full tilt.

He tried the door handle, only to find it locked. Looking in with exasperation, Shirou made eye-contact with the Lord in the driver's seat. El-Melloi rolled down the window and gave Shirou an intent look, holding a readied and lit Molotov cocktail in an outstretched hand.

Shirou blinked and took the bottle without further ado.

Letting the emptied rifle drop and hang on his hip by the sling, he held the bottle like a baseball as he cocked a throw. Twisting his hips and shoulder to cock for the throw as he raised one leg, the bottle was launched with the force, speed and precision that would not be out of place in the Japan Series finals.

The clatter of breaking glass and the explosive _whoof_ of a fireball consuming the horror masked its screeching howls as it dropped, no more than 10 meters from the car. Taking a scanning look, Shirou found that the rest had gathered themselves and were coming for him, while the now two doused horrors were still effectively out of the game.

"Keep them coming." Shirou said, motioning for Waver to give him another. A second passed and another bottle found his open and waiting palm. "If you can't give me a lit one, I can handle that. Just keep them coming."

Three more bottles were thrown and three more horrors were left screeching and writhing in pain on the pavement. Four left— _when had another one showed up,_ he wondered—with two a mere twenty meters away and closing fast. Judging that he didn't have time for another two bottles, Shirou took the proffered bottle and threw it high in the air with an underhanded throw.

Raising his rifle and reaching for a fresh 7.62 magazine he judged the path of the bottle, the velocity and course of the horrors and the time it would take for him to get ready. Taking three steps backwards, he managed to attach the magazine and chamber a round, taking aim at the seventh bottle.

The loud crack was effectively simultaneous at this range with the clatter of the shattering glass. The lit doused cloth causing the rest of the alcohol to catch fire, creating a falling curtain of flames that made the horrors veer to a sudden halt and retreat as the wall of flames settled between them and the car.

Emptying the magazine once more as he advanced back to the window, his left hand coming down and being greeted with another Molotov, Shirou smirked in satisfaction and threw again. Only, this time the horrors dodged to the side with almost palpable panic.

Had they learned from the previous bottle already?

Perhaps being stationary, they could dodge much more easily a bottle than when in full tilt. It didn't matter, as the bottle crashed into the pavement and another conflagration erupted, veiling the street with thick black smoke and a nauseating smell that was almost as bad as the horrors' own.

Blinded by the smoke and flames, the shadow and brightness intermixed, Shirou almost missed the blur coming from above. Jumping to the side, he heard the massive thud of something crashing where he had stood a mere moment before.

Shirou rolled back up, emptied the rest of his magazine in the creature's center mass in a twitch reaction. The creature ignored it all and barreled at him. Shirou dodged to the side, but was clipped by a clawed appendage that ripped through layers of clothing and drew blood on his back as he was battered to the side like a ragdoll.

Hitting the pavement and losing his rifle, Shirou rolled by muscle memory and managed to not further hurt himself, only to realize he had been pushed almost into the fire itself. Tongues of flame licked his back and smoke filled his eyes and nose, while the ringing sound of the impact still pained his head.

Shirou took half a step forward, away from the immediate reach of the hungry fire.

The horror cautiously stalked around, wary of the fire yet lusting for his blood as it chittered and whistled in excitement. Behind him on the other side of the wall of fire, Shirou could feel the two horrors making a ruckus as if complaining about having their prey stolen. The fourth and last of the horrors was on top of the car, confusedly banging on the windows and trying to reach the squishy humans inside. Waver had a look of apology in his eyes as he met Shirou's eyes, as if saying he had done his best as he had rolled up the window already.

Shirou understood and didn't begrudge the Lord, it wasn't in Shirou's nature after all.

He could Project something, but would it be of any use? He had already made several things today, but his reserves were still good due to the mundane nature of his items. He could try _that sword_ again, but it wouldn't work. He would need a minute to create it and without _her_ around it would only last for a single swing. He had tried and tried since _then_ , but it felt like something was missing.

Mundane creations were more stable and reliable, but didn't offer the kind of firepower necessary to deal with this thing.

Taking off his chest rig and jacket, Shirou eyed the creature in front of him cautiously as he pocketed two magazines. Taking the jacket and throwing it into the flames while holding the sleeves, Shirou eyed the rifle halfway between himself and the horror. The jacket caught fire and he reeled it back out.

Taking a step forward, Shirou swung the flaming jacket once, twice, thrice. With every swing, the horror made a noise of anger and rage but backpedaled nonetheless.

With a lunging step, Shirou threw the jacket forward and made for the rifle. The horror screeched and avoided the jacket, making a lashing lunge of its own at Shirou. Blocking the lash with the butt of the rifle, Shirou almost lost grip of his weapon as the tentacle tried to rip it from his hands. But with a kick and a desperate side-roll while lying down, Shirou managed to free himself.

Leaning on his side, he reached for the magazine and inserted it into the rifle and bringing it to bear on the horror before firing the entire magazine in one rapid string of hip-fire. Rocking his hand back and forward like rockstar would their guitar, the recoil of the now almost-automatic rifle made his shots climb and hit the horror from bottom to top as the muzzle rose with every shot.

The remaining eight tracer rounds fired in an instant, five managed to hit the horror and caused it to collapse into a wailing mess of teeth and chittering agony. Shirou rose and charged, swinging the rifle by the barrel and hitting the horror with the stock so hard that something cracked and gave way under the force of the impact.

Spinning around the horror and placing it between himself and the wall of fire, Shirou dropped the gun and turned to face the horror as it was getting up again. The tracer rounds were slightly incendiary and had hurt it, but would not stop it or bother it for long.

 _But_ , at this moment it was still pained and off guard.

That was all he needed.

With all the explosive force that he could muster, Shirou dashed at the horror and crossed the three meter gap like a rocket. Turning on his heel, cocking his hips and bringing low his shoulders while balancing with his arms spread out, he spun on his one foot as the other came crashing around in thunderous spinning back kick that struck with the force of an exploding sledgehammer and sent the horror flying backwards.

Backwards, straight into the raging flames that hungrily enveloped the horror.

Recovering his stance, Shirou could catch a glimpse of the horror before it was swallowed by the flames it landed in. The following wails of agony and teeth almost brought a smile to his face as he turned around again.

The two horrors that had been behind him were now flanking the fires, the one horror on the car still ignoring him in the hopes of getting to the seemingly easier prey hiding in the car. Shirou grabbed the rifle again as he dashed for the magic circle.

Loading the last magazine on his person, Shirou took aim and in another series of three round bursts, methodically crippled the horror jumping on the car. Sliding off the car, with limbs flailing every which way as it angrily screeched, the horror finally seemed to notice him.

Realizing that the stock had been shattered in his previous attack, Shirou noted that at one burst had missed completely as it gave further way under the recoil. Behind a series of cracks caught his attention and Shirou realized his chest rig had caught on fire, setting off the remainder of his ammunition. The crack of a bullet ricocheting on the pavement next to him got him moving again and he dived for the cover the trunk of the car as his remaining bullets set themselves off in the fire.

Taking a breath of relief, he realized that he was again next to the horror that he had shot at just now.

The horror realized his presence in that instant as well, a pair of tentacles lashing out for him like bolts of lightning. Kicking back and managing an awkward backwards roll, Shirou got to his feet after the dodging the rapid series of attacks.

The horror not far behind, leaped for him as was their nature and Shirou almost instinctively, simply dropped and let it fly over him. Turning around in a half-crouch he fired at the monster instantly, only to realize it had gotten stuck in the time stagnation barrier like the one he had fought before.

Turning around the face the two other horrors that he could feel closing in, Shirou noted that the Lord had opened the car window and lobbed another three or four Molotov and held the horrors off while Shirou dealt with the one behind him.

Shirou might even survive at this rate.

The thought made him laugh involuntarily as he took stock of the state he was in and his situation. One broken rifle, his small caliber pistol with one magazine, a somewhat painful wound on his back—judging by the warm wetness leaking down his back and the numbness—and two more horrors to deal with as the fire raged around him and his head was beginning to feel light from the smoke and the oxygen scarcity in the air.

It was at that moment, that the barrier behind him exploded and shattered, knocking him off of his feet and onto his face. Groaning in pain, Shirou had barely enough time to get back up and raise his rifle before _something_ caught him in a vise grip around his throat and lifted him up like he weighed nothing.

The last thing he saw before losing consciousness were the blood red eyes, slitted and boring into his own as the rifle was torn from his grip and shattered with casual ease.

* * *

"Grrhhh..." Shirou groaned, as he opened his eyes. Holding a hand to his head, which was pounding in beat with his heart and shooting lances of pain through his temples, he felt like he had been thrown out of a car and then rolled down a hill while stuffed in a bag. A quick check revealed no broken bones however, and his back only ached with slight scabs from the injuries he remembered receiving.

"Good morning, Emiya-kun."

"Huh, Rin. What happened?" Shirou said, barely groaning the words out as he worked out the kinks in his neck with stretching and massaging. He vaguely remembered fighting, but right now he couldn't make any sense of the situation beyond the fact that he wasn't dead.

"You managed to get in the way of an angry True Ancestor." She tittered, walking up to him. "Not many people can boast having survived that."

Shirou grunted, figuring that if Rin was being coy then everything was under control for the moment.

"But." she said suddenly turning serious. "You're lucky to have made it alive. Probably because you were Reinforcing yourself so hard. The gases the horrors exhale and release when killed is pretty poisonous; you let it get way too close to you this time, idiot. The priest didn't make it, either."

"The priest? You mean the old man?" Shirou blinked as he got up on sore legs.

Walking forward to look around, he spotted piles of rent and charred flesh all around them. Many more than he remembered. Many, many more.

"Once Arcueid was free, a whole bunch of the horrors appeared out of thin air. While she was busy with them, a few took out the old man." Rin explained, shrugging as if it did not truly have anything to do with her. "Tore him apart in seconds. Arcueid doesn't seem too bothered, though."

Shirou's mood darkened at that and he looked around the street with a critical eye. The charred remains of horrors surrounded them, with half-blackened shards of glass littering the street. Ripped and torn remains of the creatures were everywhere around them, no doubt the handiwork of the True Ancestor. That it had worked when explosions hadn't, seemed somewhat unusual to him but he chalked it up to some sort of vampiric power or natural authority she possessed that he didn't know about.

He spotted Luvia and El-Melloi, talking with the White Princess a dozen meters away and they seemed to notice him as he looked their way. He felt a bit lightheaded at the sight and he wasn't sure if it was because of his injuries or because of the sight itself. Something about a True Ancestor just _being_ seemed to make the whole situation ethereal and unreal.

"Your back seems alright now. Had to patch you up a little, what with you getting beat up like a redheaded stepchild by those things." Rin smacked him on the back, hitting his bare and somewhat raw skin through the rends in his clothing, with a teasing grin on her face.

"Huh, you're awake." A new voice spoke out and Shirou realized with a start that it was the woman. He blinked and looked at her, before nodding an awkward greeting, not sure what to say.

"Umm, sorry about, you know. Well, but you were shooting at me. Well not at _me_ , but _at_ me, so you know." The blonde woman seemed just as sheepish as he was as she laughed awkwardly.

"Ah, it's fine as long as you weren't hurt. Sorry about that, I was careless to assume that just because the bullets stopped at the barrier in my point of view that they wouldn't still hit you from your point of view." He bowed at the waist, causing the rest of the magi to give him funny looks. The blonde woman stared at him for a moment before laughing.

"Haha! You're a funny guy! I like him!" She waved him off, looking at Waver and laughing merrily. Then she seemed to remember something and raised her hand to reveal something she had been holding. "I uh... I kind of broke your thing. Sorry."

Shirou stared at the rifle in her hand.

Or rather, the pitiful remains of a rifle. It looked like someone had crushed and bent a toy gun made out of tin and then tried to pry it back into shape again, rather unsuccessfully. The barrel was bent to hell and the internal mechanisms were undoubtedly completely ruined.

"Ah, it's fine. Really, it was my fault for shooting at you anyhow." He apologized again after realizing he'd be staring at the gun in an awkward silence.

"Oh, no. That won't do. I'll buy you a new one okay? Or, err, was it precious? I'll make it up to you, Ì promise?" The vampire seemed genuinely worried about that, so Shirou relented.

"Well, thank you. I have more, so it's fine. And... I'm sorry about your companion." Shirou bowed again.

"Hmm? Oh, Merem? He's fine. I think. Well, he should be soon enough. Well if it really was Merem it wouldn't have happened, but the old man should be fine." The blonde waved him off, but then seemed thoughtful. "But I am kind of troubled now, since I don't know how to find that guy now."

All four magi perked at that.

"Ah, Miss Brunestud." El-Melloi interjected, as stiff as a tree and as polite as anyone else present had ever seen the man be. "Could you perhaps share with us the purpose of your presence here? It is not often that the Church or even someone as famous as yourself comes to Britain."

The vampire looked at him and placed a finger on her chin, seeming thoughtful for a moment.

"Mm... Well, Gaia and Merem wanted to find some magus because he was doing all kinds of weird stuff or something, but neither was exactly clear what the problem was..." She seemed more to speak to herself than to Waver, but the Lord thanked her anyway.

Shirou blinked, not certain what to make of that.

"Gaia? You mean you're here as part of the Deterrent Force or something?" As Shirou spoke up, he could see Waver and Luvia stiffen up, making hand signs at him from behind the blonde vampire's back for him to stop and shut up.

"Well... Not really?" Arcueid seemed as confused as he felt, reacting completely differently from how the magi had thought she would, which made the two magi blink in confusion. "I mean, I think so, but Gaia seems pretty confused about the whole thing, so I guess not."

Shrugging, the vampire seemed to forget the subject in another second again.

"Hey, you." She turned back to Waver, causing him to stiffen up considerably. "Do you know where I can find Relchronos Torre? He's one of you weird guys, a magus."

Waver's jaw dropped as he blinked at her for a few seconds. Shirou could see the pieces moving and finding their places inside the Lord's head for a moment, before Waver shook it off and shook his head.

"I believe we are looking for him as well, miss Brunestud. We had been hoping that you would have some clue for us." The Lord spoke, carefully observing the True Ancestor with every word.

"Huh. Oh well." She shrugged and frowned. "Guess I'll have to look for him myself then. Oh yeah, what's your name, anyhow?"

Shirou blinked, as his eyes were met by her ruby red ones. He suddenly remembered those eyes boring into him as he had been lifted up and choked by this woman, earlier.

"Ah... I am Emiya Shirou." His introduction was a bit stiff and wooden as he still wasn't sure what the hell was going on.

"Emiya, Shirou." She seemed to taste the name before nodding to herself. "Got it. Buh-bye!"

And with that she turned on her heel and began to walk away without a care in the world. No one tried to stop her or follow her, nor did anyone say anything for a good minute until the figure of the woman had completely disappeared.

"What a weird woman." Shirou mused, only to have three pairs of glaring eyes lock onto him and make him flinch.

"You idiot! What kind of stupid blockhead asks a True Ancestor about the Deterrent Force? Don't you realize that Gaia's primary interest with the Deterrent Force lies in culling humans!" Rin seemed explode faster than anyone else, grabbing onto his shirt and almost lifting him off the ground. Only, with the tears on the back, the shirt tore and ripped even more. "It's like you have no brain in that head of yours! AAAAGGH!"

"I thought, urk, she only cared about Dead Apostles?" He tried to voice out as she shook him.

Shirou looked at the two others for help, but El-Melloi was studiously ignoring him and Luvia seemed ready explode as well. He grimaced, hoping that she wasn't holding it in until Rin was done with him, as he began to ignore Rin's ranting and manhandling of his clothes with a skill that could only be born through years of experience.

It was rather nostalgic, actually.

* * *

He had to listen to her ranting for a full five minutes before she finally let him go. It seemed her annoyance wasn't _only_ at his behavior with Arcuied but was also greatly fueled by his willfulness to simply jump out of the pan and into the fire at the first chance.

"We could have just stayed in the car, that's what we _Reinforced it for_ , didn't we? If the spell failed, then so be it, we would have just left! But you had to play hero and jump out!" She had shouted at him, mere inches from his face. "Didn't you understand when you faced the one before? You can't handle those things alone."

At that he had smiled and thanked her for caring about his safety, which had finally gotten her to drop him and the subject. Still, his clothes were ruined, his gun was ruined and his muscles were quite sore. He had some ideas about how to handle himself if it came to another fight, but it was beginning to look like this was a troublesome mission and that he would be getting his ass thoroughly kicked throughout it, if the last few encounters were anything to go by.

Still, he would keep going. This wasn't the kind of place where he could simply back down.

"What now?" Shirou asked the Lord, once Rin had let him off the hook. The Lord eyed him thoughtfully as he leaned on the car, but did not say anything for a good while.

"How is your crest?"

Shirou blinked, before shaking his head. He could admit to the truth of the matter with ease: "I don't have one."

The Lord blinked. Not in surprise, not in shock or anything of the like. He simply blinked, as if for the sake of breaking eye contact for a moment. Deep in thought once more, the Lord seemed to ignore Shirou's very presence despite looking straight at him.

Shirou shrugged and eyed his supplies.

Waver had gone through a fair share of the bottles, but they still had 16 left. Enough for one or two encounters, especially once the magical powerhouses weren't busy with magic circles. He had his pistol, but it was essentially useless given that he only had the one magazine of 9mm for it. That left him with 16 peas to use against monsters that shook off battle rifle cartridges as if they were mosquito bites.

He frowned at that. Sixteen Molotovs and only a magazine of 9mm rounds.

Noting that Waver was still busy with whatever he was contemplating, Shirou turned to look at Rin. Noticing him looking, the raven-haired magus gave a glower that made the hairs on the back of his neck rise and he hastily turned to Luvia instead. She had seemed mollified with the lashing Rin had given him and had calmed down.

At least, compared to Rin.

"Luvia."

"Hmm, what is it Sherou?" She turned to look at him, from having been taking a closer look at one of the more well preserved remains of a horror.

"Could I ask for a slight favor. I'll pay for the costs, but I'd need your unique talents for it to work." He gave her a helpless smile and the Finnish magus gave him a dangerous one in return, all teeth and predatory interest.

"Oh— _hoo_... Sherou, you mustn't ever tell that you are in a position of _needing_ a unique service, once in a negotiation... Tsk tsk, I simply must demand a proviso payment of two hundred percent of the material costs. Now that you have given me such an easy advantage, it is against my nature to simply give it up easily." She grinned at him and he realized she was teasing him.

"Ah, Nevermind then." He shrugged and turned away, mock depressed. "Guess I'll just ask Rin."

"Nevermind, Sherou! Deal!" The blonde seemed to have mastered true spatial transference as she teleported next to him, grabbing a hold of his arm and dragging him to the side before Rin could notice. "So, what is it?"

"I, ah, could use your help with something. I don't really have a weapon to deal with the horrors, but I have an idea." He said, pulling out his pistol and showing it to her. She frowned at the CZ 75 but did not object the weapon.

"And?"

"Well, we have 16 Molotov and they seem to work best by dousing them first, before lighting it. If they see the fire, they understand to dodge. If I douse them before I light the mixture, then the horrors don't understand to dodge and it's easier to hit them." He explained, removing the magazine and emptying the chamber for the last bullet. "So if I could, say enchant these bullet somehow, I could light them from afar once I've doused all the ones that have appeared."

"Enchant? You need me to use Alteration for you?" She smirked at him. "I thought Material Transmutation was _your_ specialty, hmm? And what material costs would there be in that? Well besides the paltry magical energy, but I'm sure we can working _something_ out."

"That wouldn't work. Even your Alteration wouldn't last for more than a few hours at the most and the longer I wait, the weaker it would get." He shook his head and took out a knife from his pocket. Flicking the blade open, he took the one bullet he had extracted from the chamber and pointed at the tip of it. "You damaged some of your jewels, right? I noticed you collecting them and there were cracked ones among them."

She narrowed her eyes at him, suddenly losing all of the playfulness she had had.

"They're all but useless, right? Might as well sell them to me and recover some of that loss?" He suggested with a raised eyebrow, thinking himself clever here once more after his quip about Rin. She huffed and shook her head in exasperation.

"Were it anyone else, I would kill them right here and now. To ask a magus to hand over their mystic codes for cheap remuneration..." She laughed lightly yet with a dangerous undercurrent that dyed the air with menace, her tone catching Rin's attention and she turned to look at them from afar. "But you've just proved that you _are_ simply _that_ naive, with the White Princess. If that woman doesn't mind your foolishness, then an Edelfelt certainly cannot be any less merciful. It would not do to appear any less graceful, after all. Fine, _fine_. As long as you promise to get rid of them all by the end of the day and not give them to anyone, I guess I can spare a junk one."

Shirou, realizing how he had just almost gotten himself killed over an idea he wasn't even sure would work, nervously swallowed as he nodded.

"I'd ask for a geis, but... No, nevermind. What were you thinking?" She laughed aloud and gave him a sideways look.

He quickly carved out the lead nose of the bullet and showed her the bullet. There was a depression where he figured that you could insert a small gemstone without exceeding the original dimensions of the bullet. She nodded and took out a small gem, lined with fractures and held it in her palm as she whispered a word.

" _Call_ —"

The stone broke apart into dozens of smaller ones, uniform in size and dimensions. She continued muttering under her breath until she finally opened her eyes again and showed her palm to him. The gems had changed color a little and seemed slightly more alive than before.

"A minor effect of spark and flame, stored to be released as soon as the gems crack again. Here, I'll expect payment by the end of the week." She gave him a smile and a wink, as she walked off.

"Thank you, Luvia." He said, speaking from the bottom of his heart.

Luvia was very much like Rin in the regard that despite being a merciless first rate magus, she still had a kinder side that would allow her to make unexpected allowances for people she liked. It was probably what had attracted him to her in the first place.

"Don't worry about it, it's just a sparkle. Hardly anything to sweat over even if you do lose it." She waved, not bothering to face him as she walked away. Only to stop, thoughtfully, before turning to look him in the eye. "But if you give any of them to Rin, I will find you and I will kill you."

He laughed nervously at that. "I promise. I won't betray your trust."

She looked at him critically before huffing and walking away primly.

He pocketed the rest of the gemstones along with the gun and walked to the car. Luckily they still had a few extra t-shirts from his boutique raid and he had a change of clothes, though a bit light for the weather as he had no jacket.

Wearing two shirts felt a bit unusual but gave him enough layering to keep him warm despite the chill. He had always been quite warm of body. He grabbed the jacket, which he had taken off during the fight. It was slightly singed at the bottom and had been quite effectively torn apart by the horror.

Throwing the torn apart green jacket into the backseat of the car with the rest of his gear, Shirou made sure to check everything. Once done with that he walked up to Waver who seemed to have reached some sort of conclusion in his meditations.

Before Shirou could open his mouth, the Lord looked at him.

"You said there were people to the west of us?"

"Yeah. Looked to be from the Clock Tower, from what I could see. At least, they were making a camp there before, I don't know if they're still there." Shirou answered. The Lord nodded and got up.

"Alright then. That would be the Enforcers. We will join up with them for now."

* * *

Exiting the town at the west, they quickly found the base camp of the Clock Tower contingent. Shirou also noted that the sounds of fighting around the town had stopped, taking that to mean that either one or both sides had been eliminated.

Pulling to a stop as a heavily armed man, looking more like a mundane mercenary than any kind of magus, appeared before them. Shimmering out of thin air with the rifle pointed at them, holding up one hand to signal them to stop.

Shirou noted the rifle was an American M16.

Not a more easily acquirable civilian version of the basic design, but the actual military issue one with full auto capability. Military style cargo pants, boots, jacket and plate carrier and vest, along with a ballistic mask on his face completed the look.

Shirou thought it a little overdone given how the British population would react to such, but assumed that if you were to make mystic codes, you would customize things you knew worked for you. And the invisibility would certainly help with the local legalities despite the overt appearance.

He wasn't particularly surprised about being pulled over, given the state of their car. Still, he halted and rolled down the window a slight bit. Not enough for the gunman to easily shoot inside, but enough to let sound carry more easily. He just hoped that the road wasn't mined; even with the Reinforcement, getting flipped around would suck more than he would like.

"Who're you? What do you want?" The gruff voice, almost comically overdone Shirou felt, asked from behind the painted on white skull on the mask. Some sort of shaded lenses covered his eyes, but Shirou could feel the eyes peering at him.

"I am Lord El-Melloi II, now get the hell out of my way and tell me where Adashino is." Of course, the man with the gun had nothing compared to the sullen, gruff anger that his employer was putting out.

The man looked taken aback, taking an actual step back at the tone of voice. He lifted one hand to his ear and spoke something to what had to have been a communications headset. After a few seconds, he looked back to the car and waved them on ahead.

Beside Shirou, the Lord grumbled about useless people wasting his time.

Shirou continued driving, taking it slowly as the paved road had stopped a while back and the occasional tree and the high grass on the roadside gave any hypothetical ambushers a distinct advantage. Despite his hurry, Lord El-Melloi did not complain, as even at their slow pace the pothole-filled road was making for a bumpy ride.

Finally finding their way to a collection of erected square tents, Shirou look brought the car to a halt a little to the side. Several gunmen acknowledged their presence but did not approach, keeping their positions while fiddling with their coms.

Even before Shirou had pulled to a stop and turned off the car Waver had exited in a hurry, slamming the door in his haste to stretch his legs once more. The Lord looked around, spotted something and began to walk. Shirou moved to follow but a look back by his employer told him to stay.

Shirou took that to mean that he wasn't necessary for protection detail in the camp itself, thus he could do whatever he wanted as long as he was on stand by. Or something like that, it wasn't a very detailed look.

Shrugging, he gave the two magi behind him querying looks. Rin and Luvia, noticing the Lord's exit, hastened to follow. Left behind, Shirou shrugged and got up to look around the camp.

The gunmen kept on eye on him and Shirou wondered who they were. The Clock Tower did not directly employ such men, after all. Even the Enforcers who used specialized combat magecraft got a lot of flak; that the actual gun users would be treated like dirt went without saying.

Freelancers, then?

He wandered until he found the civilians. They were left alone, with only the one guard looking over them, held outdoors in the cold. Shirou could vaguely sense the bounded field, holding them calm and under control, in a dazed and compliant state like cattle of some kind. He felt a sense of nausea and turned to walk to the lone guard.

But at his approach, the man sharpened up and Shirou could hear the click of the safety being set off even from a distance. This man would shoot him before he allowed Shirou to come any closer. That rankled him even more, but he did not try to approach any closer.

The Clock Tower was ruthless but not meaninglessly cruel.

The people would most likely survive just fine, the Clock Tower had an image to maintain. These people would be fine, even if he did nothing. Turning around, he walked away. He didn't really believe his own bullshit, but at the same time he did not act out on his vague impulses to go help the civilians.

He couldn't help them anyhow.

He didn't have the ability to break the bounded field holding them and even if he did, the guards would take him down before he managed anything. And even if he got them away, then what? He couldn't hypnotize them himself and leaving them to freely leave and spread what had happened here would bring down the wrath of the entire Clock Tower on him. And _them_.

Controlling his breathing, he brought himself to a state of enforced calm.

Shirou made his way back to the car and found himself left alone by everyone around him. He took out his knife and the gun and ammunition again. If he had down-time, it would be good to get his gear in order. Taking out a honey-and-nuts ration bar and a bottle of water, he ate and drank in leisure while working carefully.

After getting the bullets carved out and removing the excess lead, he would drop in the small gemstone and then use Reinforcement to shape the bullet around the gemstone. The dimensions had to be quite exact; the gemstone had to be the first part to hit the target to ensure effectiveness as depending on the target material the lead bullet might not be broken too much. But at the same time if the shape was changed too much it would fail to feed and fire in the gun itself.

The CZ 75 was a reliable and tough gun, but even the best could fail you if you filled it with faulty ammunition.

The Reinforcement was tiring work, requiring minute focus and patience, despite being the most basic spells of magecraft. It did not even burn any considerable amount of his reserves, but still left him exhausted once he had finished with it all.

The first two had been the most troublesome, as he had tested out his designs with two bullets at first. Making sure there were no failures to feed or double feeds as he moved the slide to simulate feeding in another bullet, all while making sure to keep the hammer from striking the primers with utmost care.

At least it kept his mind off of the civilians.

After finding that his "blueprint" was good, the rest was just a matter of reproduction. That was the easy part for him which was fairly unusual he had come to realize. Generally for people, recreating an exact model of an earlier work was challenging, especially with a mystery such as Reinforcement which allowed absolute freedom in what you could do.

A first rate magus could create a more complex spell that would automate most of the work for roughly the same end result each time, he was sure. But when it came to remaking something in exacting detail, he was certain that he was world-class. If someone had already walked the steps, retracing them was elementary for him.

He filled the magazine, slapped it into the magazine well and pulled the slide to chamber a round and cock the hammer. For some reason, the function of a double action/single action pistol resonated with him. The mental operation of he how used his magic was extremely similar; perhaps because his trigger for using his magecraft had always been the image of a dropping hammer, perhaps these further influences with firearms had shaped his mental image even further.

Like the gun, he could chamber an image and wait for the optimum moment of letting it fire. Like the gun, he could store his images before he needed them and once they were stored required little attention.

Releasing the magazine, he inserted the final bullet in the magazine to give him the full 16 bullets to use as he inserted it into the magazine well. One in the chamber, fifteen in reserve. The hammer was cocked, setting it to fire at the slightest pull due to the single action firing mechanism, ready to spit lead at a moment's notice. He set the thumb safety and with smooth motions holstered the cocked and locked pistol once more.

Should he prepare some sort of holster for the Molotov as well? He had the pistol on his right side, which would leave his left side free. He could throw roughly equally well with either hand, so it shouldn't be a problem.

"Hmm..." He mused, before realizing one of the guards was approaching him.

"Hey, bodyguard. They want you at the tent." The gruff voice spoke, looking at him expectantly. Shirou could notice some difference in the gear from the first man he had seen—by the road—but the general feel was the same. Uniform, even in their customization.

Presumably due to some sort of camaraderie formed in this band of mercenaries.

He didn't know anything about that, but he did wonder if he could talk to some of them and exchange pointers. They seemed experienced.

Walking into the tent, he scanned the table that had a surprisingly realistic miniature map of the town on it. He noted several markers and noticed that a few small metal soldiers were moving on top of it. Almost like as if a magnet below the table was pulling them around. Some sort of magecraft, he was sure. He looked up, finding his employer and the woman from the car park earlier standing there. The enforcer from the bar who had run at the first sight of trouble was also there, standing in the back.

"Mister Emiya. How good of you to join us." The woman, Adashino if Shirou remembered correctly, spoke up. She motioned for him to join them by the table.

"What's this about? Are we moving out again? I'm ready to go at any time." Shirou looked at the Lord who seemed to be intently watching him for some reason again. His gaze flicking between the two Clock Tower officials, Shirou noticed that they were both playing with their cards held close to their chest. Whether it was to hide them from him or each other, he couldn't tell.

"Yes, I was informed that you had been crucial in Lord El-Melloi's operations—"

"El-Melloi II." The long haired Lord ground out between clenched teeth. Despite the familiarity these two showed each other, Shirou realized that neither trusted the other one bit. Adashino continued as if she hadn't heard anything.

"—against _Hermit_."

Shirou blinked at that. It was the codename they had settled on for the target, he assumed. Perhaps a nod towards the man hiding himself and having been a recluse before? Or did it have something to do with the Sealing Designation classification of "Hermit"? Anyhow, it stood out to him that his employer had not deigned to share the name Arcueid Brunestud had told him.

 _Play with your cards close to your chest_ , he imagined the Lord speaking out loud to him with a look as their eyes met.

"Yes, ma'am. That's what I am being paid for." Shirou spoke neutrally, assuming the affectations of a soldier. Less the sullen ennui of a mercenary looking for his kicks and cash, like the men outside, and more the vigilant servitude of a professional servant.

He had had the luck to work alongside men like that some years before, thus the mindset came easily.

She looked him in the eye, not saying anything for a long moment. He ignored the awkwardness of it all, certain that was what she was aiming for. Some negotiation ploy or interrogation tactic that would have made no sense to him. Finally, perhaps tiring of the silence or having achieved whatever it was that she wanted, she continued.

"But is that all you are being paid for?"

Shirou blinked, not sure what she was asking.

"...Ma'am?"

"She thinks you're working for _Hermit_." His employer supplied from the side, having pulled out a cigar from a box on the table. It seemed that he had been resupplied and no longer felt the need to hold back on his habit.

The mysterious scent of the smoke lingered in the air and Shirou wondered exactly what went into those leaf wraps to make such smoke.

"So you knew." Adashino turned to the lounging Lord, who scoffed at her.

"I was not made the replacement Lord for my incredible magics or my good looks, Adashino." He said, sounding more bitter than gloating, somehow. She huffed, affecting amusement but Shirou was sure it was nothing more than an act.

"You purposefully held back whose crest was stolen, even though you let me inspect the vault itself." He continued.

"I was not at liberty to reveal that. Orders from up high, you understand. But your talents—your _wit_ , your powers of _observation_ and _deduction_ —are most valued. Never doubt that. I made sure to give you access, as it was not expressly forbidden. I am sure it has already paid out, given your confidence here and now, before me." She seemed smug despite her smiling face and Shirou wondered exactly what he had gotten himself involved in.

"So I looked up the public records of magi. Read through 400 hundred years of Clock Tower records and memorized it all. Once you let it slip that _Emiya_ was a relevant name on that parking lot, I had all but figured it out." Waver continued, puffing out a long string of smoke that seemed to change directions and weave around them by itself. With a start, Shirou realized that the Enforcer looked to be straining to listen in.

Had the Lord enacted a soundproofing with smoke alone? Why was he still being allowed to listen in, then? Most importantly, what did he have to do with any of this?

"Of course, that was little more than happenstance. I looked into him just before." El-Melloi continued, motioning at Shirou again with his cigar. "He is adopted, without a crest. Even if it had been passed down I am sure it would have rejected him outright given his unique inclinations. Wholly incompatible with the crest, this one."

"Hmm..." Adashino seemed thoughtful at that. "You are certain of that? If you're wrong, he could prove vital in finding _Hermit_."

"Certain enough." Waver nodded. "He also helped me unravel the rest of this case. Even if he had been trying to hide something by joining me or trying to spy on my activities, he has helped me understand what and _who_ we face. I doubt any spy sent by our elusive ' _Hermit'_ would be so incompetent."

Adashino started at that, standing straighter.

"You know _Hermit's_ identity?" She asked, suddenly all business once more. "The Department of Policies—"

"Will do _nothing_. I _am_ a Lord. You _will_ give me command here as I _am_ the highest ranking member of the Clock Tower present and I _am_ the most well informed investigator on this case as of right now." The Lord's words and sudden force of presence brokered no argument and even this snake of a bureaucrat seemed to deflate before him.

After a moment of sullen and tense silence, she nodded.

"But." She began and looked at Shirou. "He will have to remain under watch. Regardless of your assessment, the Clock Tower will not stand for any failures. Even potential failures. His worth on the field does not exceed the potential risk he poses."

Shirou tensed at that. He was suddenly relieved that the smoke seemed to soundproof their surroundings. Even if the Enforcer had been told to keep an eye on Shirou, if he made a break for it right now he might make it out of the camp. It was one thing to work alongside the Clock Tower. It was another to be held captive by them.

"That's fine. But he will not be held captive; he is the type to make trouble if forced to do anything. He'll be more trouble than he is worth, if you try to hold him against his will." The Lord waved her complaints away even as he agreed to do as she wished. Turning to look at Shirou. "It seems your services will no longer be required, Emiya. You will remain here for the remainder of the expedition. You will be paid for your time I'm sure, at the end of this whole debacle. The Department of Policies will have the honor of handling the bill, since I seem to have lost my bodyguard now."

Adashino rolled her eyes at being footed the bill but did not complain, still keeping one eye on Shirou. Shirou swallowed and nodded. As long as he wasn't confined, he could break out if something happened and as long as he got paid his agent would be happy at the end of it.

Besides, most of the townspeople were here already. Mostly safe.

He had done good, this time, he told himself. He had helped solve something, even if he wasn't sure what it was.

"Alright." Shirou contemplated asking about the civilians, but realizing the precarious position he was in thought better than going through with it. Now that the Clock Tower was actively interested in him, however tangentially, if he showed any interest in the civilians they would end up as leverage against him sooner or later.

"Oh, one last thing." Waver continued, realizing something. Rummaging through his coat pocket, the Lord brought out the gun Shirou had seen earlier in the Lord's pocket. Taking out an unopened box of 7.62×25mm Tokarev ammunition as well, he handed both over. "Show me how to use this thing."

Adashino looked puzzled, but a look by Waver told her to stay out of his business.

Shirou blinked as he stared at the stubby looking automatic pistol. He had noticed the five pointed star on the grip before, along with the rather distinctive form of the slide and identified it as a Tokarev TT-33, but the closer inspection revealed it to be an actual "black star" as it was known in Japan.

A widely spread Soviet pistol design, as widely used among the various satellite states and China as it was among the pacific islands in its multitude of derivative forms. This specific one was a Norinco Type 54, the specific model that was synonymous with Yakuza and black market dealings in Japan and Asia in general.

He also realized it had been empty all along; his employer hadn't been carrying it for self-defense at all.

The whole matter with Adashino had left him off-balance, so he took the gun and explained its basic functions to the Lord almost mechanically. Figuring it out as much as he was showing it as he went along, he took to using Structural Analysis to reason out the form and function of the various parts.

It was in that curiosity that he realized something.

Prodding just a little bit too deep, he found something that he had never thought possible.

Structural Analysis was something of an oddity, when it came magecraft. Based on the simple principle of Cause & Effect, it did not quite belong to either the category of a true Mystery nor did it quite belong among the category of Concepts that lend power. Simply put, it was a deduction based on the physical attributes and appearance of an item, through usage of magical energy.

If theoretically one had a sword, one could judge how it had been used and handled from its physical appearance. A narrow and sharp tip and top half of the blade signified that it was the part most used for attacking. If the blade had been ground away until the profile of the blade drastically altered, then one could also assume it had been sharpened and re-sharpened many, many times.

If the bottom of the blade near the crossguard was thicker and blunter, with several nicks and indentations, one could assume that it was used to parry and block with.

If the crossguard was just as beat up and was loosely rattling on the hilt, it would not be out of question to assume that it had been used to receive blows as well, signifying the use of instant counters and skillful swordplay that did not rely solely on parries and attacks.

If there were slightly differently angled nicks on the top half of the blade, one could assume the wielder had preferred to enter with a blow and work from the swordbind, using superior skill and technique to win.

If one could see a spot of rust or even patina a shade darker on the middle of the blade, one could also assume that it had been used for half-swording as the acidic sweat from one's palm would corrode the metal much faster.

If the pommel had been beat up and scratched, assuming that it was used for striking as well was the obvious conclusion.

This and much, much more one could learn from simply looking at a sword, even without holding it.

Of course, this was vastly simplifying the magecraft's actual potency and function, but even a basic understanding of an item made it possible to grasp unimaginable facts from the most mundane of items.

Shirou had more than a mere basic understanding of weapons and his talent for the magecraft was quite considerable, mostly due to constant and unceasing training in the skill far beyond what any other magus would find reasonable through the years he had known magecraft.

Weapons, swords in particular but even firearms to an extent, sang to his touch and told stories to him at the slightest invitation. His eyes and fingers explored the gun; each groove, nick and mark telling a story. A mass-produced weapon such as this was somewhat soulless to the touch, as the mistakes and small tells that a craftsman would leave did not exist to tell of the basis of creating such an item for him to judge.

"What is it?" The Lord asked as Shirou stopped his explanations.

But those who wore such weapons left their mark that much strongly. Like katana and rapiers, pistols had long been items of honor. Side-arms; a sign of being someone capable of defending yourself in a civilian setting.

Like a sword, it required a fair amount of capital to acquire and in use required a fair bit of training and maintenance. As such, the thoughts, emotions and beliefs of those who held such weapons tended to accrue in them with the years.

The smoothness of the grip; the erosion on the front-sight from being holstered and drawn many, many times; the weight of the trigger; the shape of the cocking hammer; the impacts it had suffered and the care it had been taken care of with.

It all sang out to him, as if yearning to share themselves with anyone who would simply listen.

"I... it's nothing. Here, let me fill in the magazine for you." Shirou recovered quickly, turning to the box of ammunition so that he could hold onto the gun for a little while longer, his thoughts churning at breakneck speeds.

After all it had been this gun his adoptive father Kiritsugu had used to kill his own father, Emiya Norikata, once upon a time.

* * *

Shirou had ended up fixing the spring in the magazine with a quick Reinforcement, since it had been worn out and had become too loose to properly feed ammunition from the magazine into the chamber with age. He had also field stripped the pistol, cleaning and oiling it while inspecting all the parts to make sure it was still functional.

At every step, he looked deeper and wider. Trying to find some reason, some motive, some explanation that would undo what he had learned. But in the end, nothing changed and that perhaps scared him the most.

The fact that he understood what Kiritsugu had done. And _why_.

Then when he had finally learned all that he could from the gun and could no longer justify holding onto it, he had loaded it up and handed it to the Lord.

The gun had left him numb and off balance, so he hadn't really thought about the whole matter with the Clock Tower or even the civilians any further as he was shown the way out of the tent. Before he realized it he was sitting in another tent with a group of freelancers and the Enforcer from before as his company.

The rather unremarkable man had not changed since their first meeting at the bar. With a glance, Shirou could tell that he hadn't run into any trouble on the way here as his appearance was still immaculate and there was not even the trace amount of the smell of the horrors on him.

They were discussing inanities, pretending at resting, drinking and eating while playing cards. But Shirou could see them glancing at him every once in a while. They weren't there to keep him company, but to keep an eye on him. He numbly accepted a ration bar and ate it, but did not join in their card game as he drank some more water to wash it down.

That didn't matter to him, his thoughts were focused on entirely on the past instead.

He had known his old man hadn't been completely clean; his adoptive father had told Shirou as much himself. The disaster in Fuyuki had been his old man's mistake, he knew that much and had forgiven the man long since. After all, Kiritsugu had gotten him out of that hell and Shirou could never forget that fact.

Kiritsugu had killed and killed, for the same ideals that Shirou himself held, just as Shirou had killed and killed.

What did he have to show for it? He had been working as hard as could for years now and had _nothing_ to show for it. His magecraft was all but useless and he didn't have the resources to fight using nothing but conventional weapons. Not if he wanted to actually accomplish anything. This day had showed him that, if nothing else.

He had flailed about, barely slowing down a handful of the lowest rung monsters a mad magus had summoned to keep others distracted, while everyone else did all the real work. That he had helped in the uncovering of the magus' identity was questionable; an excuse he could us to cover up his ugly feelings.

Nothing he had done here was of any true note.

The moment the vampire had been freed, she had taken him out in less than a second. He had no illusions about how much effort she had put into it, no doubt even the weakest Dead Apostle could do the same to him in a heartbeat. He had taken out the vampire in Bolivia with a timed detonation, having been wounded by the Dead underlings as he tried to ex filtrate himself while the vampire lay dying.

Maybe if he had had that sword from back when he had fought side by side with Saber, he could actually match some of the things that he faced, he thought.

But no. He couldn't maintain the image in his head well enough to Project the sword and even if he did, his body could not handle the strain. The removal of Avalon and the connection to King Arthur being severed had cut that option from him forever.

He could _create_ the sword. A couple of times a day, for less than a second before it shattered as his will failed him and the World crushed the phantasm ruthlessly as the abnormality it was. It was Rin had lectured him, all those years ago. The World will not accept aberrations which encroach on it.

What use was that?

Why had he wanted to become a Hero of Justice?

Once upon a time, he had thought he could save people, but in the end he hadn't accomplished anything, had he? Would he continue to roam battlefields, hellish disaster sites and war zones without truly saving anyone for the rest of his life?

What was the point of that? Why did he continue running after all these years, even as the finish line never even came into sight? Had he ever saved a single person?

His old man had been a Hero of Justice, Shirou believed that absolutely. After all, regardless of the fire's origin, hadn't Kiritsugu saved him? As long as it was to save someone, wasn't it good to act? He wasn't that unblooded and naive child from his childhood any more.

He had killed men himself, innocent and guilty alike had been put down by him. Sometimes he would make a mistake, sometimes there would be collateral damage, sometimes someone was suffering and it was a mercy to end them. He would always aim to minimize the death and suffering around him, but he wasn't perfect.

He wasn't even all that skillful to begin with.

While he had been playing at hero with the small fries, the magi here had used bounded fields to gather up and protect the civilians, all while observing him through some familiars no doubt. They could casually achieve so much more than _he_ ever could. They had seen him fighting and hadn't even bothered to take away his pistol, after he had been told to step aside.

They were suspicious of him, but not even a little bit cautious. That was how insignificant he was in the grand scheme of things.

He hadn't been able to figure out anything at all, merely driving around the person who could actually deduce what and why everything was happening. He had thought that as long as he believed and held onto his ideals and struggled onward, one step at a time, then that somehow he could make it. That if he just worked harder, then his ideals would not lead him astray.

But. Shirou had never thought that Kiritsugu would have killed his own father in cold blood over those very same ideals. It left him _numb_ for some reason as he sat in a daze in that little tent.

Could he kill someone he loved in the name of his ideals? He wasn't sure he wanted to even think about what answer he would give, if it came down to it. What had he been doing all this time? What would he do from here on?

As Emiya Shirou fell into the depths of self-doubt and despair, the jibes of the freelancers around him, the flickering light of the storm lantern and the flapping of the tent in the wind surrounded him.

"Old man, what should I do...?"

* * *

Re-edited and re-uploaded 10.3.2018


	5. Loop 5-1 & Loop 6-?

**Chapter 5: Loop 5-1 & Loop 6-?**

* * *

He breathed deeply, letting the magical energy gathering thickly around him suffuse his entire being.

Magical energy. That eternal problem for Magi; the eternal limit to their ability. Where to get it. How to handle it. How to control it. How to keep it from disappearing between their fingers even when they managed to get their hands on some. More and more, always needing more.

There were many ways that this problem had been tackled by those objective-oriented researchers at the Clock Tower through out the ages. Mana Generators, jewels, tantric rituals and contracts of all kinds.

Yet, few had the simple elegance and beauty of his solution.

He had wrapped himself into layers of time, shunting his dimensional coordinates to hide from the World and everything that sought to find him. It was possible to find him of course, if you had the mystical know-how and enough manpower to seek out the correct signs.

But few knew how to see those signs.

Arcueid Brunestud was an unstoppable force, essentially. There was little he could do if faced with such an enemy directly. That one attempt at direct confrontation had ended the moment he realized she simply would sink all of Britain if he vexed her enough. It was not worth another try. But if she did not know where he was, she was all but useless.

A directionless force is a meaningless force.

Therefore, even though the stagnation trap he had wrought had been destroyed, he did not mind. It bought him time to regain his bearings and prepare for the rest of his work. Through trial and error he had even managed to find the optimal rate of stagnation to keep her held up until she was released, without wasting too much energy on the spell itself. Enough that she was out of the picture and would have to be released, but not so much that the effort left him drained.

Then he summoned the horrors and loosed them on the Church Executors, prepared his ritual once more and set up his fields. Then, once his alarms noted that someone was tampering with his trap around the vampire, he simply loosed the horrors once more.

What he had seen had surprised him. He had observed how that Clock Tower two-bit magus struggled with simple monsters as he pondered the situation. The two in the back of the car he was familiar with. Not intimately for sure, but any apprentice of the Wizard Marshall was worthy of noting.

Short of a great horror, nothing would stop those _two_ for long.

So the solution had been simple; take out the _rat_. As soon as the opening presented itself, he swarmed the seemingly harmless man with horrors. With Merem Solomon torn to pieces the moment the field collapsed, Relchronos de la Torre felt secure in his victory once more and receded from observing the World.

As to how he gained the energy, Gaia had always been plentiful with Mana.

Making the Mana collecting bounded field was simple; create a bounded field of time stagnation in a location where Mana flowed naturally and it would be trapped there. As time flowed slower inside, the natural magical energy could easily enter but once inside, it would be slower to leave it once more. More and more energy piled up until he could simply tap into that pocket once he needed it.

This way, _entropy itself_ worked in his favor, giving him in minutes access to hours worth of magical energy with casual ease. A true reversal of the World's laws that would impress any magus with its simplicity and genius.

Of course, it was mostly only possible due to Emiya Norikata's hard work and crest, but that was beside the point.

Gathering the magical energy was the easy part. The more difficult part was what he wanted to do with the resources he had collected. The ritual was intricate and delicate, requiring exacting focus and precision.

So when the outer layer pinged once more, Relchronos swore and cursed loudly. As the thunderous roar around him broke everything, he had long since cut off the connection to his circuits and moved to hold onto the lance as the central focus of his ritual. Saved from the internal agony of his works being shattered, he felt quite at ease if most annoyed with this setback.

He could escape at any second, but he might as well find out how they had found him _this_ time.

It was becoming tiresome, more than anything. All that hard work gone because some people did not know how to enter through a simple warning barrier without breaking _everything_. There was no point in fighting now, since he would have to re-do everything _anyhow_.

In strode a team of magi, blazing in his magical senses with power and killing intent. Following them came the long and lanky form of the youngest Lord of the Clock Tower. Smoking his signature cigar, his dark longcoat and white scarf fluttering in the wind as his dark locks framed his face. His furrowed, almost angry, sullen features scanned the small house Relchronos had chosen as his hideout as he stepped inside.

"Relchronos de la Torre, I presume." He spoke out, after taking a long breath through his cigar, the words laced with the thick cigar smoke that now suffused the house. Didn't the Lord know that you weren't supposed to inhale the cigar smoke? He showed himself as the nouveau Lordling he was with that—caring more about his image and appearance, than heritage and the right way of doing things—in Relchronos' mind.

"Hoo— _oh_. I am surprised you know who I am." Relchronos, dusted himself, seated as he was, one hand on the artefact. "Then again, I suppose your wits were the only reason you managed to become a Lord, so it is to be expected."

The jab did not go unnoticed, but the intruders ignored it.

"You may have erased all of your own records, and done it with excellent care. But your family has a long history that is not so simple to erase." The Lord spoke, easily falling into the lecturing that magi were so prone to.

Relchronos felt more annoyed by his family's continued failing of him than he felt worried about being surrounded and seemingly defeated at that moment. Still, he would make the most of it.

"Your family runs all the way back to the founding of the Clock Tower, after all. " Magi had a habit of lecturing, especially those who had taught at the Clock Tower, Relchronos knew. It was an excellent learning opportunity, even if not the kind the Lord meant to give. "The De La Torres specialized in time magic. Supposedly taking the name from their ability to view events that happened in the past, similarly to how a man standing atop a grand tower can see the long roads winding far below and far away. Reasoning and deducing the past is as easy as seeing what road someone must have taken from the top of a tower, for you.

"The heavy use of time mysteries alongside with the theft of the Emiya crest made it elementary to reason out your identity. Of course, none of that matters since your efforts are of no use against the World anyhow."

Behind them a woman came in, almost skipping in as she leaned forward while holding her hands clasped behind her back.

"Wow! It really was here! You're pretty amazing, huh." Arcueid Brunestud spoke casually, almost as if this was nothing more than an everyday outing for her. "Oh! That's him, huh!"

"...Yes. Miss Brunestud." Waver seemed more cautious of the vampire than the old magus before him, as he well should. Even Relchronos felt a moment of fear as the True Ancestor walked in despite his absolute trump card. He forcefully calmed himself, taking a deep breath as he reminded himself to learn all he could. "And as we agreed, he is mine to deal with. You shouldn't have any complaints, as long as he is stopped."

"Mm... I guess. I don't really have any beef with him, so do whatever you want." She casually accepted the Lord's words, making everyone in the room relax noticeably.

"Hmph. I suppose that is so if she is here. But I must ask you, how did you find me?" Relchronos spread his arms placatingly, asking the question as it did truly niggle at him. Surely a magus would answer another magus' final questions, it was in their nature after all.

The Lord snorted disdainfully.

"You seek to create a time field of hyper-stagnation to survive to the End of Time itself and witness the Root as All comes to a close. This much is clear from the records I _could_ find. First I thought it ridiculous and I could not for the life of me understand why you would do all of _this,_ if that was all you sought.

"But then as I realized the problem in that proposition, everything started to become clear. If you simply used the Emiya crest, sooner or later Gaia would perish beneath you. Leaving you without magical energy to run your experiment.

"I must admit, your idea of using time stagnation to collect magical energy is simply ingenious. Had I not observed one so closely when you had trapped the White Princess, I would never had realized how you were doing it. But it proved your undoing; simply by observing the flow of Mana and comparing it to previous records of this part of the country, your location becomes elementary to divine.

"So you must have thought to yourself, 'how can I extend the lifespan of the World', no? And that is where the murder of my apprentice Gray comes in. I do not know how you found out about her mystic code, perhaps the Torre gift gave you a vision, but you saw a way to reach out to the World itself.

"Your plan is to extend your hyper stagnation on the World itself with _that thing_ and ride with it to the End of Time as if it were a vehicle. As a single human is to the World, so too is the World to the Root. If a man can reach the end of the World, surely a World can reach the end of the All and reach for the Root.

"Or so you must think, I judge." The Lord spoke, taking a deep inhale of the cigar smoke once more.

The Lord seemed almost smug in his lecture and Relchronos felt a lance of annoyance stab through him. To have his mysteries seen through so easily was always vexing for a magus. But he controlled himself. This man must have the Deterrent Force guiding him, if he had been able to solve everything so neatly.

"With her help, we broke in with ease." The Lord gave a honoring bow to the vampire, who seemed to be looking around the house with interest. Acknowledging the thanks with a smiling shrug, the vampire went back to looking at meaningless family photos and the doilies on the tables around them as if they were the most fascinating thing in the World. Relchronos had chosen this empty house simply because it was unremarkable, so the vampire's actions perturbed him somewhat. What was so interesting about all of this when he was at the cusp of creating the greatest magical experiment the world had ever seen!

"I simply have one question for you, before I end this." The Lord's countenance froze over as his eyes glinted with malice, he reached for his pocket pulling out a gun.

 _That gun_ of _all things_ , of _all the places_. Relchronos swore in his mind, grinding his teeth at the offending item as it stared back at him. Taunting him, as it appeared again, and again. Always there to remind him.

Waver walked up to Relchronos with his finger on the trigger of the pointed firearm. "Why?"

Relchronos blinked again, ignoring the muzzle pointed straight at his face.

"Why what? Why did I go to all these length to try my experiment? That is the most simple thing in all the world to understand." The old magus laughed, coughing slight flecks of blood again. He had healed himself earlier and taken the time to be careful this time around. With the experience of the previous attempts as his guide, he had succeeded much more easily than before but it was still exceedingly taxing. "Any True Magus should understand why I did all of this. But, the Clock Tower is nothing if not persistent in ever shoving its nose and claws where it does not belong. They would not understand, _you_ do not understand, I see.

"The World will suffer nothing of this. The people will not even notice as I accomplish the dream of all Magi. There is no reason to stop me, surely you would be better off joining me in this experiment?" Relchronos opened his arms, apparently welcoming even in his moment of defeat at the hands of these others. For surely, did not all Magi dream of that glorious place at the end of their eternal struggle?

The Lord before him was unmoved, his features of granite and his pistol held steady.

"You misunderstand." Waver spoke, almost whispering. "I am asking you, why did you torture Gray as you stole her mystic code? What purpose, what meaning could there be in _what_ you did to _her_?"

The pointed barrel was now shaking, the man's voice full of barely held back rage as those burning eyes bored into the old magus' own.

Relchronos blinked and started, before smiling almost innocently.

"Oh, you nouveau Lordling, you know nothing." Relchronos slowly reached out with one hand, placing it on the extended arm of the Lord before him, almost as if patting a distraught child to steady them. Waver noted the gesture as he followed the hand with his eyes, but sensing no magic and seeing the frail arm, he felt no fear at it touching his coat sleeve. "At first, I did simply kill her painlessly. Efficiently. But you see, handling one's mental health is crucial for any Magus. You understand, of course. Frustrations mount exponentially as your failures pile up."

The old magus affected a thoughtful pose as he rested his one hand on the Lord's hand, placing still no pressure on it, as no force and no mysteries were called forth.

"What do they call it nowadays again...? Ah! _Stress relief_!" Those final words made something snap in the Lord's eyes and Relchronos could see that his death was imminent. The trigger pull was a mere instant from reality as his brains would scatter all over the room in a second hence. "Here, let me show you what I mean. Re _cursus—!"_

The World shattered around him, rewinding before his very eyes, as the Lordling was pulled along with Relchronos. But without the protections of the De La Torre crest, his body was rent and torn apart by time running wild. The arrogant Lordling's suffering and agony was a thing of legend and Relchronos relished in witnessing it, his spirit soared once more despite his complete failure and checkmating not moments before.

After all, the greatest champions that Alaya and Gaia had sent to stop him had handed him the tools for their own undoing freely and willingly, so blind in their arrogance and victory. Letting go right before he snapped back into his return point, he released the Lordling's arm and the soundlessly screaming visage of Waver Velvet, Lord El-Melloi II shattered in an instant into true nothingness.

Disappearing into the void, as if dust scattered by the wind, nothing remained of the dark-haired man. Only the gun, still pressed against his forehead, did not vanish as it fell down and clattered on the floor at his feet.

Relchronos opened his eyes and beheld his hiding place as it had been hours before. There was progress lost, but in a very real sense much more had been gained. Executing the experiment up to where he had already gotten was easy now with the experience he had accumulated. Handling the annoyances would not be difficult either, thanks to what he had learned.

Taking a look at the pistol on the floor at his feet, the magus scoffed and stepped on it, relishing in his triumph over the wretched thing. He ground his foot in for a few second and then kicked it away. The gun skidded into a corner of the house and he ignored it once more.

Bringing things that were not inherently a part of him was taxing, but with the presence of the Lordling pulled along he hadn't noticed the extra drain the gun represented. It was immaterial; he had magical energy to spare anyhow, it was the least of his concerns right now.

As long as he placed decoy time stagnation fields all around the town to divert the flow of Mana, the Lordling would be neutralized, unable to sniff him out again. In fact, given the location of the leylines, he might as well kill two birds with one stone while he was at it.

He knew the location of their camp already, anyhow. As long as he was there before it was set up by the Clock Tower and hid it well, he could do as he pleased and then leave with no one the wiser. And as long as the True Ancestor was kept busy, she would not come to shatter open his hiding place at the behest of someone less dimwitted than she.

Perhaps instead of summoning a hundred and forcing her to go all out, what if he tried a dozen for starters to merely keep her occupied? Just enough of a resistance that she did not look for him, but not so much that she would have to exert herself again.

After all, he did not wish to be sunk with the British Islands again.

He had already confirmed that the things would rampage as long as he cut off their connection to the World. And as long as the True Ancestor did not feel overpowered she would surely not sink the whole island again in her wrath. To make sure that those pesky magi were properly busy, he might as well summon some more horrors as well. The Church executors had been exhausted after handling a handful of them, he might as well throw another handful out there while he was at it.

It would push into the timeline of completing his experiment considerably, but he could handle the workload just fine. He took a deep breath through his nose, savoring the sensation as if it were the finest wine in the world.

"Truly, blessed is he who does what he loves for a craft, for his craft is his love." The man said with a refreshed smile as he got to it. He had a work to do, after all. 

* * *

Re-edited and re-uploaded 10.3.2018


	6. Loop 6-4

**Chapter 6: Loop 6-4**

* * *

Shirou got up, shaking his head.

He needed to do something. Preferably with his hands.

He walked out of the tent, ignoring the freelancers who were supposed to look after him. They realized only after Shirou had already exited the tent that he had left, judging by the sudden influx of shouts behind him. He looked around, spotting the wreck that had been their car, and little else of note around the camp. With the days already so short as Winter neared, the sun was already slowly settling for the day and the natural light was waning, somewhat masking the least of the damage on the car.

The horrible mess of a dented metal and cracked glass, originally a perfectly respectable looking and fairly modern thing, now looked like it had been through a war zone or three. The windows and the hood were cracked and dented, the front bumper had been torn off and the lights looked to be completely shattered while flakes of paint had fallen all around the car.

It would still probably start up just fine. He could leave if he didn't care about pissing off the Department of Policies, if he just got in the car. They might try and stop him, but it was still Reinforced so it wouldn't stop easily. But what would he do, anyhow? He didn't have any leads to follow up on, the horrors in town had already been handled by the Executors and the Clock Tower people.

There probably wouldn't be any human stragglers in town anymore, either. No, he would only be distracting the Clock Tower and spreading out their already thinned out ranks for nothing if he ran away.

Shaking his head, Shirou looked at the car. This was exactly why had left the tent, to stop thinking about these things, which he had already gone through in his head a dozen times over. Each time only serving to make him more and more sullen.

He thought about trying to fix the car for a lack of something better to do. He placed his hand on the rear door and let his circuit spring to life. His sense of touch extending along with that magical energy as it surges out of his fingers and he peers into the cars internal structure.

The chassis, transmission, engine, operating systems and electrical components were all mostly fine. The car would run if you turned it on, as he'd known. Still, it would be a bit of a chore to start getting all the bumps straightened out and the windshield switched for a new one. Fixing it all with Reinforcement was a bit beyond him, still, and wasteful nonetheless. Unless he projected everything he needed, he didn't have the tools needed either. Also lacking proper lighting and a ramp and other things, it wasn't something he could just start tinkering on to pass the time.

No, he wanted something to distract him, not something that would leave him exhausted. Opening the door, he noticed that the Molotov cocktails were all still there, completely untouched. No one else would have any need of them so they had been forgotten entirely, he realized . Reaching for the back seat he pulled out his green jacket and the remains of his rifle.

"What do you think you're doing?" A voice asked him, standing some meters behind him.

"Getting my coat. Obviously." Shirou slammed shut the door, ignoring the Enforcer's presence. It was the same man who had been at the bar and later in the tent with Adashino, but nothing about the man seemed to indicate he had any real authority or power here.

He opened his mouth to say something, no doubt a threat or a chastisement, but Shirou cut him off. "Do you have needle and thread?"

The man looked baffled, but Shirou lifted the coat by the arm and showed the long jagged rends on the back. Realizing that Shirou wasn't taking him seriously at all, the man scowled. "Listen here, punk. You're nothing. Without the Lord—"

Shirou didn't care about that, so he simply walked away while shaking his head. "Of course you don't, you don't look like the kind of guy who could fix his own clothes."

He made it back to the tent and the four men there gave him pointed but silent looks as he walked back in. He sat back down and looked at the coat. It was pretty cold already and as the evening fell he would need more clothing. Not particularly wishing to try Reinforcing together torn cloth, as it was something he had never had any luck with, he looked around at the people.

"Anyone got needle and thread?"

They looked at him like he had just grown another head.

"Umm... Yes. I mean, yes sir. Let me fetch it for you." One of the group got up and left. The silence that followed was awkward, but Shirou ignored it and took out the rifle and began to look at it more closely. Usually one would field strip a firearm in case of damage, but in this case it had been so utterly broken that you couldn't even pry a single part off of it. Even Structural Analysis only served to show a mangled inside without rhyme or reason.

It was beyond him to repair, just like the car. The thought rankled him, paralleling with his overall helplessness.

"Hey, you." One of the other men asked, catching Shirou's attention. He looked up and made eye-contact, asking ' _well, what?_ ' with his eyes which made the man continue. "Did you really take down ten of the water demons with just a rifle?"

The man seemed a mix of curious and joking, looking down at the obviously broken remains of a rifle in Shirou's hands, as if it he was expecting Shirou to suddenly jump into a blow-by-blow account of the fights at the question.

Shirou blinked.

"Close enough. I had Molotovs, though." He answered neutrally, furrowing his brows as he looked at the others in the group who were intently listening to the exchange. "Why?"

"Well, me and the boys. We were wondering how you did it?" The man continued, beginning to sound more and more arrogant and less and less serious as he spoke, becoming more and more certain that Shirou must have been lying or exaggerating. "When we ran into them, they wouldn't stay down no matter how hard you hit them them. And you don't look tough. We were wondering how you did it, _exactly_."

Shirou blinked at them. They seemed like hardened veterans, but the mention of the horrors made several of them suddenly uneasy, as if they were expecting some to be lurking about in the shadows, just waiting to suddenly jump them. Others looked amused and waited for what Shirou would say, with small grins as they gave him sidelong glances. They obviously didn't believe that he had done it, so he shrugged.

At the same time the polite man returned with a box in his hands.

Receiving it with a thanks, Shirou opened the box. Finding the requested needle and a spool of black thread inside, he drew out a length of the material and looked at it closely. A bit thinner than Shirou had expected, but it seemed quite strong nonetheless. Probably used for suturing wounds as much as fixing gear. Or maybe they had a healer for that.

"Like I said, Molotovs." Shirou said and ignored them again as they scoffed at him, turning to pick up his rifle to set it aside. The group went back to playing their card game and ignored him after that.

Shirou set the rifle under a bunk, marking it mentally as something there was no point in fixing. Whatever True Ancestors were, they as effectively destroyed a rifle beyond his capacity to fix as they could rip apart horrors. Or water demons, he wasn't sure now what to call them.

Better to fixate on what he could do immediately, he decided; he threaded the needle and took a closer look at the jacket. This wouldn't be too difficult. Only the back had been torn, the sleeves and front were fine. The tears were uneven and ragged but still aligned neatly enough that with a bit of pulling they could be united. It would have been a bit tight, had it been a size smaller, but it should fit him just fine after he fixed it.

Of course, there was nothing he could do about the burned parts, but since that had mostly been the Molotov mixture and the coat itself hadn't caught fire, it was still in acceptable shape.

"Umm..." The man who had brought him the needle asked hesitantly. "Sir, what are you doing?"

Shirou looked up, beginning to get confused with this man, who had him effectively under confinement but deferred to him as if he was afraid of getting in his way. Another of the men gave the polite one an annoyed look, but didn't bother intervening.

"What's with the 'sir'? Aren't you a magus, too? I can sense you." Shirou asked, slightly curious about these people now. Among magi, having a reserve of odic force that exceeded the threshold that it became possible to for others sense you, was something of an base requirement to be considered a proper magus.

For there to be this many men, who were working with the Clock Tower and had enough power to reach that threshold ought to mean that they were magic users of some kind. Or so he figured. His question got him a rounds of dark looks, but Shirou did not quite understand why. Something about his question seemed to have ticked them off, so he went back to ignoring them as he continued with the needle.

The tent remained silent after that, but Shirou noticed that the man who had brought him the thread and needle seemed to be struggling with a question. He was intently staring at Shirou and opening his mouth every once in a while, but then settling back and closing it again.

Shirou realized he hadn't answered the man's question, as obvious as it was.

"I'm fixing my jacket." Shirou answered and the man looked up, blinking. Somehow he seemed immature to Shirou, despite his apparent adulthood.

"...But why? I mean, you could just get another one. There are spares."

Shirou looked up and then back to the coat. He was almost done already. He shook his head and went back to sowing.

"Is it precious, irreplaceable?" The man continued, brows furrowed. Shirou only now noticed how light his brows were. He was wearing a beanie, but his eyebrows were a spectacular shade of platinum blonde that almost looked white in the yellow light that suffused the insides of the tent.

"Not really. It's just a coat." Shirou shrugged, he hadn't thought about it too much. He had just wanted something to work on to get his mind off of everything for a while. His answer didn't seem to satisfy man, who sat back down with a thoughtful frown.

Shirou ignored them and kept up with his work. He had done this often enough before and his hands were quick and deft at the simple task. It didn't take him more than five minutes, despite the relative difficulty of mending such uneven tears. Finishing with the jacket, Shirou looked at his work with a slight smile as he held it up against the light.

"It'll work."

The group looked up, wondering if he was talking to them, still trying to ignore him for whatever reason and playing the card game they had started. Handing back the spool and the needle with a thanks, he put the jacket back on with a flourish as he got up.

The group started again as he got to leave the tent but settled back down as the sullen Enforcer gave them a shake of the head as he followed Shirou out. The man had been quietly ignoring everyone else after following Shirou back in before, acting as if he wasn't a part of their group.

Shirou's eyes left him nigh blind in the newly settled darkness as he left the tent, he took a deep breath of the chill air and listened to the surroundings. It was a fresh and uplifting air, combining the smell of nature and the sea, distant from the dust and smoke of cities and not at all stagnant as some of the remote corners of the world he had been in before.

He wondered about the civilians for a moment. They had looked fairly well dressed, but would they be fine with the night chill? The Enforcer was a step behind him, settling next to him with an almost tangible aura of sullen annoyance. The two stood outside, looking at the still darkening sky and not saying anything to each other for a long while.

"What's the deal with those guys? Aren't they just freelancers?" Shirou finally asked, moving his arms back and forth, testing the new seams and the mobility they offered. The warmth was fine, at least with the double t-shirt, but it felt a bit strange with the back being so much narrower.

The Enforcer huffed, oozing disdain.

"Those useless bastards and spares?"

Shirou blinked, he didn't know what he had expected but that hadn't been it.

"What?" Shirou's questioning tone made the Enforcer scoff.

"Useless people have no place in the Mage's Association, so what do you think happens to second sons or cousins who aren't fit to inherit a crest?" The Enforcer seemed amused by something as he spoke, reveling in the fact that Shirou finally seemed to be paying attention to him.

"They're either kept in the dark about everything, or raised by someone else?" That's what Shirou remembered hearing, at least. The man scoffed at him again.

"No way. How many of the Clock Tower's esteemed families would sully themselves by mingling so closely with those outside the Mage's Association or hand away their precious bloodline? Besides, spares have to be trained in the basics at least. Just in case they do have to inherit." He seemed almost gleeful at this point. "But all that isn't cheap, and you can't exactly hand out Mysteries to _spares_ that in all likelihood will be worthless... I don't know who, or when, but someone had a brilliant idea about that problem.

"Put them to work as 'freelancers'! A few geis here, a few secret methods of binding or coercion there and presto! Suddenly the family has another source of income for the heir apparent to use. Guess how the useless spares feel about all of that, huh? Besides, what kind of magus would consent to watching over hypnotized _cattle_...?"

The Enforcer chuckled, drawing enjoyment from their plight. For a moment, Shirou wondered whether the Enforcer realized that he was in fact doing the very same thing as they were. Watching over someone who did not resist or need much looking after. He shook his head; the question was meaningless.

"...And you're different?" Shirou almost hesitated to ask. He really didn't want to know any more, he realized. He sometimes had a hard enough a time justifying to himself why he associated with Magi at all and this was not helping, and this definitely did not sound like it would help.

The man shot him a glare, back to his previous hostility. "Of course I am. I may be working as an Enforcer, but I'm a _third generation_ _magus_. A _proper_ magus. I'm different from those worthless bastards that can barely even hypnotize someone. I don't need the table scarps of my elders to make my way in the world."

Shirou sighed, rubbing his forehead. Why had he even asked? The whole deal seemed inherently contrary and entirely meaningless, as if set in place merely to distinguish between the various strata of magi. 'I may be doing the exact same job as _those others_ are, but at least I am a _magus_!' seemed so weak an excuse to Shirou that it did not even warrant anything more than a sigh and a raised eyebrow.

"Of course, I wouldn't expect an outsider like you to understand. This is why the Clock Tower has gone to the pits. How that _democracy_ faction meddles in everything and poisons the minds of the young is obvious. They're rabble like _you_." The word 'democracy' seemed to be as foul as poison, coming from the Enforcer's mouth. By this point, Shirou had already given up on trying to understand this magus. This man was utterly alien to him, there would be no point in trying to understand him.

"Where are Rin and Luvia? Did they go with Lord El-Melloi?" Shirou wondered at the fact that he hadn't seen them. Unlike him, they were powerhouses that could prove useful regardless of circumstance. Add to that the fact that they were here on their own missions instead of for hire, and he couldn't see them stepping down from the action. While he had been put 'under arrest', those were no doubt working to end this whole situation.

The Enforcer shrugged, affecting indifference and going back to being sullen once more. Shirou chuckled at that reaction, realizing what his problem was. Incidentally also catching the ire of the Enforcer who gave him a glare at the sound.

 _Ah, what the hell_. Might as well get that jab in on this prickly fellow; there wasn't much else for amusement to be had.

"You're the runt of the Enforcer litter, aren't you? Like those ' _useless brats_ ' as far as everyone else is concerned? Why else would you be left behind to look after the civilians and me while everyone else went to handle the real work?" Shirou gave him a wry grin and he could almost hear the man grinding his teeth as his eye spat daggers at Shirou.

Flipping aside his crocodile-skin coat angrily, the Enforcer's hand settled on a one-handed sword on his waist as his killing intent sharpened.

With an ornate and gilded swept hilt, it looked quite extravagant for the thin and long blade Shirou could see sheathed. A rapier, or some sort of cut-and-thrust sword of the late Renaissance; too long to be a smallsword or a spadroon; not curved and wide enough to be a saber and the pommel was too large for a dedicated cutting sword anyhow; Shirou judged with a bored look.

He had seen awesome swords and terrifying swords. Golden swords that were works of art and brute sharpened works of raw stone. Those had been threatening and had oozed the wielder's prowess to him as much as their own power.

This thing did not so much as get a second glance from Shirou.

Moreover, this man didn't seem to understand the 21 foot rule and how it applied to most any weapon. At this range, Shirou could simply punch him in the face and break his arm before the sword had even left its scabbard. Even assuming it was a mystic code, Shirou did not particularly feel like it would be trouble.

It was a that moment that Shirou felt the shiver run up his spine. Something _changed_. He froze completely, realizing that something wasn't right. He spun on his heel, looking away from the Enforcer as his eyes sought out something in the darkness.

He saw only swaying weeds and shadow, behind the guard who was lazily patrolling with a cigarette in his mouth. But there...

"You—"

"INCOMING!" Shirou's sudden bellow made the Enforcer flinch and caused the nearby tents to fall silent, several patrolling men around them turning to look at Shirou with odd looks.

Realizing his shout had had the opposite of the intended effect, Shirou cursed and sprung into action, dashing toward the man he had shouted at, who had turned to look at him. Only, the shout had already been a last second warning, thus there was no way that he could physically reach the man in time...

"Get dow—" Shirou shouted, waving his arms at the guard who looked at him with furrowed brows. Out of the darkness behind him, leaping easily a distance over 10 meters, came the horror. The force of the pounce tackled the man forward with such force that his head snapped backwards as his body was forced to bend under the force of the impact.

Engulfing the guard in its tentacles, it was little more than a wet _squelch_ and _pop_ as the man exploded in a rain of blood and gore as his skin was torn to pieces and his limbs ripped off.

Shirou skidded to a halt, everything seemingly still in slow-motion as his heart lurched. He had failed and only gotten closer to the horrors, which had already proved itself to be a tremendously bad idea before. He should have been making for the tent; getting weapons, warning the others, distancing himself and finding a defensible bottleneck...

There was a moment of tangible stillness as Shirou wondered what he was doing.

He had known he wouldn't make it in time; it was too far away. He had nothing in his repertoire that could have saved the man at that moment, even if he had had a gun or projection at hand it wouldn't have been able to reach out and put down the horror before it swallowed whole the man.

"As long as I think I can fix it, I will at least try, huh?" He felt as if he had reached some sort of equilibrium in this moment of utter failure. Maybe it wasn't meaningful to save one man that was little more than a whipping boy at the Clock Tower, perhaps it wasn't admirable to commit himself to an action he knew he couldn't complete, and perhaps the people around him would never understand his reasoning when it came to this. But to him, there lay meaning in the act itself, he realized now as he cursed his ineptitude.

He had to challenge that impossibility, otherwise his life held no meaning. No _worth_.

His eyes took in the surroundings and his mind raced.

Small arms were entirely useless; melee was suicide; the Molotovs were in the car; the scarce trees and high grass provided enough cover that seeing a horror meant that it was already on top of you; the darkness let the horrors disappear and reappear at almost any angle; he had no reliable back up and no position he could fall back to; the bounded field had been breached or destroyed without anyone noticing.

It was the worst situation imaginable.

Even if he got to the car and returned with the Molotovs, the fire would ruin his vision in the dark while revealing his presence to the horrors. Additionally in that time it could simply disappear again into the foliage or have taken out another guard.

At this point, the only way he could see out of this situation was to run to the car and lock himself in; the Reinforcement would still be strong enough to keep them off of him while he drove the hell out of here.

But he couldn't do that. There was one horror, which meant there would be more. And if there were more, then the guards wouldn't be able to handle it. They themselves didn't think they could handle it, the Enforcer didn't think they could handle it and even the more capable magi who thought they ought to be left behind didn't think they could handle it.

And if the guards were overrun, the nothing would stop the horrors from feasting on the catatonic civilians behind him. _Therefore_ , he could only step forward and face these creatures again. Time snapped into play once more and Shirou took a slow breath as he stepped forward.

"W-Water demons! Sound the alarm!" The Enforcer behind him shouted, but Shirou did not have time to care. The horror, or water demon or whatever the hell it was, had noticed him in the middle of gorging on the flesh of the guard it had taken down. Already behind the horror Shirou could see several more silhouettes moving against the shadows.

If he couldn't get close and couldn't put them down with ranged attacks, then he needed to bind their movements. As such...

"—trace _on_ ,"

It raised itself to pounce once more, as od poured down Shirou's limbs and his fingers wrapped around an illusionary shaft held over his head. If he was facing nameless aquatic monsters, then certainly he ought to arm himself accordingly as a spear-fisher.

The barbed hook-head harpoon launched from his hand with a whiplash of air that sounded almost like the crack of a whip. Time slowed down in his perception as the lance left his grip and slowly made its way toward the tentacled horror. But as slow as his harpoon was in his eyes, the horror moved even slower.

The geyser of blood that erupted as the horror reeled under the force of the throw brought a grin to Shirou's face as he stepped forward, another shaft already in his hands. Aiming lower, at the now toppled horror, Shirou took a running leap and almost slam dunked the second harpoon in. Driving it through just as easily and finding purchase in the ground beneath to pin the horror in place.

His breath came out in a gust of steam and time settled back into the regular flow as his adrenaline burst passed. The tentacles still writhed, trying to reach around the harpoons and pull them out, but it was mostly stuck now. Still, as good as mostly stuck was, Shirou wanted to be certain.

With another effort of will, a bow appeared in his hand, followed by an obscenely thick and long arrow with nasty barbed hooks running down the length of the shaft to the middle. He hadn't used a bow and arrow in years, yet somehow he felt himself back in that calm he had always found so easily back when he was still shooting arrows after school.

The method _was the same_ , anyhow.

Nocking, aiming, drawing and loosing were a single motion in perfect harmony with his breathing, the arrow being released at his exhale as if a great wind was pushing it forward to impale the monster.

The writhing tentacles were a target any archer would struggle to hit, but he didn't need more than a glance and by the time he had nocked his arrow he was certain of his shaft finding the mark. The wet squelch and rising cries of agony and rage from the horror told him all that he needed to know as it curled up around the shafts impaling it and writhed.

He lowered the bow, scanning his surroundings and stilling his breathing to listen better.

Chaos surrounded him, as freelancers were running like headless chickens, glimpses of dozens of horrors to be had around them in the shadows. The monsters were coming in from all directions, having somehow bypassed the perimeter without any alarms being raised.

Shirou spotted one, trying to sneak up on a freelancer who was rummaging through a backpack, completely unawares in the throes of his panic. The harpoon settled in his hand, his forward leg finding purchase on the ground as he cocked his hip and shoulders loading the throw.

Perhaps the horror leaped first or perhaps the shaft was thrown before any movement had been initiated. Perhaps the horror had simply reacted to the movement.

It mattered not, the end result was the same. The two objects met in mid-air and the tentacled monster was knocked back a meter in the air from the force of the impact as the spear punched through it. Falling to the ground and rolling by the freelancer who almost jumped out of his skin, it's tentacles wrapped around the shaft as it whistled and wailed in pain with teeth and claws clicking furiously at the harpoon.

Shirou grabbed the back of the man's neck and pulled him backwards, ignoring the panicked flailing of the man who thought he was being taken by a water demon.

"Don't breathe the fumes. And don't bother trying to find them with your eyes around you either, they're good at hiding. Just listen for their movements and trust your nose. And calm down, already." Shirou spoke with deliberate and almost exaggerated calm, his words having a visible effect on the man in his grasp. Swallowing nervously, the man nodded and got on his feet.

"I- I was getting the flares. It's too dark to fight."

"Right, get the whole backpack with you, you can dig them out later." Shirou nodded and the man hastened to obey. Shirou scanned their surroundings as he listened to the pandemonium around them, slowly making sense. Luckily it seemed the horrors were drawn to movement primarily, thus the civilian crowd seemed unmolested so far. But if it went on longer, some would no doubt settle on a few sleeping snacks.

"Ready." The man tapped Shirou's shoulder, having gotten his bag and a rifle. Shirou didn't know the exact signals these men used, but he noted that a single tap on the shoulder from behind meant 'OK to go' for future reference.

They advanced through the camp, Shirou immobilizing horrors as they went and the man behind him shooting at those not yet downed. They collected sixteen more freelancers who had been trying to rally themselves and found at least a dozen more that had been taken down and were little more than gory stains on the ground.

"We have to get to the civilians." Shirou said and behind him, several of the men looked uneasy.

"There's no cover there, we should be getting the hell out of here!" The man to him closest objected, almost as a knee-jerk reaction. Shirou could see that his eyes were dilated and his gaze was twitching at every motion.

"No, he's right. The outer perimeter's been broken, but the prisoner containment field is still holding! We can have our backs to the wall and form a defensive line there!"

"I could make a pillbox. Nothing fancy but enough to give us cover."

"Yeah, that could work. We installed the lights and everything. Shit, I thought those things would be useless since the field would contain the noncoms, but look at me now eating my words." This voice scoffed, as if reveling in the fact that his previous work had not gone to waste after all.

"But we don't have enough ammo to fight them off, not for long anyway! We'll be completely fucked once we run out of ammo!"

Shirou had only wanted to save the civilians, but it seemed that his companions had had other ideas. Had hadn't noticed anything like a containment field, but he supposed it made sense. Assuming someone wanted to infiltrate them, what better way than to pretend to be a hapless mundane person running from a disaster? Still, if they could form up there, that should mean that they could keep an eye on the civilians and take the horrors head on at the same time. If it was a matter of supplies, the camp had plenty even if it was spread out.

"I can handle a few on my own if I move fast; getting ammo and grenades shouldn't be impossible as long as you don't shoot me while I'm running around." He said with more confidence than he actually felt. It was dark and bullets don't stop even though you can't see someone in the darkness. With horrors running everywhere and bullets flying around constantly, it was more than likely that he would be injured horribly sooner or later if he tried to do anything.

But if he wanted to save those people, this is what it would take.

The men looked startled and then thoughtful. Shirou was almost sure they wouldn't accept that, given how low the chances of him making it on his own were. But, surprisingly...

"Yeah, if it's him, it could work."

"Right. We make noise and catch the fuckers' attention while he goes behind their backs."

"If we managed to draw them in and had some C4 we could use a hammer and anvil tactic..."

"We'd have to divide the killing zone into sectors, have a map at hand and then use coms to keep in touch so we don't shoot him in the back while he's running. Anyone got the map?"

"Yeah! Got mine in my pocket, gimme a sec! Anybody got radios to spare? He'll need a map, too I think."

...enough they agreed to it without arguments; a handheld radio with a speaker and microphone cord was thrown to him by one of the men and Shirou caught it. He blinked and then collected himself, putting the radio on underneath his jacket so the wire was not sticking out. He nodded his thanks as he placed the bud into his ear. "Alright, let's go."

They had expended most of their ammunition on hand already previously, so they backtracked and emptied some of the nearby tents for all that they could carry as horrors tried to ambush them at every corner. But every time they were fought back; Shirou would pin them down in place with a long spear or several barbed arrows—even the occasional bola made its appearance—followed by the freelancers taking the fore, leveling their guns and concentrating firepower until the monsters were ripped to shreds and too busy healing to chase after them. One of the freelancers could use some basic fire magecraft and another used the flares to deal damage to the ones that tried to get too close past Shirou.

Making it to the holding field, Shirou finally got a chance to take a closer look at the civilians. They were sitting in groups of five or more, backs facing each other with their hands visible and on their legs. Most had their eyes closed and seemed to be asleep, but some were looking around as if in a daze. He noted that none seemed to be suffering from the cold, which was slightly comforting.

Walking up to the barrier, he reach out and he confirmed that the barrier acted as a physical wall against his touch. It felt solid enough under his hand that it should hold, at least without concentrated attacks by the horrors.

That meant that unless the horrors themselves had brought down the outer perimeter field, then the civilians should be safe even if they failed here in killing all the horrors. Should he have taken the men to the cars instead and made a break for it? Too late for regrets, he told himself. Shirou removed his hand from the barrier as he stepped back, looking at the thing with more than a little awe.

This was something that he could never make, he felt as he could see his touch rippling like over the edge of a lake. A barrier of this scale was a thing of wonder.

It also threw off sparks and lights in the night air, which he found strange. It acted like it was overflowing with too much power or something. It seemed to elementary a mistake for an accomplished magus to make, so Shirou ignored that possibility. If they were good enough to cast a bounded field this big on such short notice, then they would know better than he would.

Probably just something to do with the margin of error, grounding out excess power from the functions, nothing more. The barrier felt solid and unwavering, after all.

The freelancers had in the space of two minutes transformed a patch of grass between two spotlights into a trench with raised edges and overhead cover, giving them a perfect spot for holding their ground. In the corner, the freelancer who had done all the heavy digging using his magecraft sat and panted, pale and shaking as he recovered while nursing a bottle of water and a ration bar.

Shirou was handed the map, now filled with markings and writing in permanent marker. He looked over it and memorized the markings, overlaying them mentally over his own map of the camp that he remembered. The base camp was slightly rectangular but not quite uniformly so shaped, as using natural leylines in the construction of the outer edge meant that generally straight lines weren't available.

By placing it on top of the leylines as much as possible, you could power it up without expending one's own reserves. He reasoned that here it was feeding both fields off of the local leylines. The second bounded field, containing the civilians was located at the edge of the bounded field, and they were on the inner edge of that field facing inwards to the rest of the camp. The location meant that if the freelancers fired at an approaching enemy, due to the level ground and lack of thick trees, bullets could very well travel and hit everything else within the camp.

Unfortunately, this was the only location with an open stretch of ground that gave them sufficient visibility to not let the horrors creep up on them. To the east of their location following the field was a growth of trees that would have made them unable to spot anything approaching, while to the northwest there lay a steep hill which would make using grenades dangerous lest they roll back down into their own fortifications. This was the best spot they had, so Shirou would have to deal with it.

The map had divided the camp into eight zones, marked from 1 to 8 with big numbers for him to see, starting from the northwest down all the way to the east, very much like a clock-face. Shirou eyed the different tents and markings located in each section; he would have to be able to divine his presence based on these and inform the freelancers not to fire at the corresponding zone, lest he come under fire as well.

Shirou gave back the map with a nod and a determined look in his eyes, the freelancer who had been questioning him in the tent seemed surprised to be given back the map and looked at Shirou questioningly, but Shirou shook his head.

"I got it right here." He said, pointing to his temple. "I won't have time to read the map while I'm out there and any light would just give me away."

The man frowned but nodded, startling at the sound of gunfire next to him and then beginning to swear; the horrors were back. It was time for him to go, before they got swamped and surrounded. A bright flash of light caught Shirou's attention and he turned to see one of the men holding a flare gun with a vicious grin on his face. The familiar sounds of a pained horror reached his ears as the man flipped open the red plastic gun and exchanged the spent flare for a fresh one.

"Alright, don't die before I get back." Shirou said and vaulted out of the protection of the trench, kneeling at the edge of the grass as his eyes strained to spot any horrors beyond the range of the lights.

Behind him the chorus of acknowledgments and good-natured insults followed him as he sprung into motion. Running low with loping steps, he avoided one and another horror that noticed him and gave them both a pair of arrows in the tentacles without a seconds hesitation. Turning the radio on, Shirou changed course as his mind played over the destination and a route for him.

"Entering zone 4, repeat, entering zone 4, out."

" _Roger, good hunting. Out._ " The radio buzzed to life and Shirou winced a little, adjusting the volume of the radio by his belt.

Spotting the supply tent after half a minute of running, Shirou came to a halt. It had been torn apart on two of the four sides he could see, and the dark splotches marking the torn canvas could only be blood, as his nose strongly noted. But beneath the coppery smell of blood, he detected an undercurrent of something else that was just as revolting to him.

His fingers grasped an arrow to match the bow he was holding; he had come to prefer a split bamboo shaft without a proper head as he had tested several alternatives on the horrors. As it struck into the flesh of the horror, with every inch it penetrated the two split sides of the shaft would further extend from each other. And with how flexible and tough bamboo was, it wouldn't break even as it started thrashing. With a good shot, he could immobilize two tentacles with just one arrow.

Inside, feasting on the remains of a man while looked on by the glazed unseeing eyes of two more dead men, was a horror. It had not noticed Shirou yet and he took the moment to observe the state the rest of the tent. Several crates were stacked around, some of which had been opened and Shirou could see ammunition boxes, empty magazines and several rifles from where he stood. The men had hastily entered the tent, probably while being stalked by the horror and tried to arm themselves but had been taken unawares and died.

That is what Shirou judged, seeing them holding empty rifles and magazines, with a handful of bullets covering the ground around them, barely glinting through the pools of blood.

Shirou nocked the arrow, his breath automatically calming from his run here and his heart falling into the slow beat he was used to, as the familiarity of his actions almost made him nostalgic. He drew back the shaft, his mind's eye already seeing the target pierced and an instant later the arrow was loosed.

The appearance and nocking of the second arrow was accomplished even before the arrow reached the horror and by the time the horror had been hit and began screeching in pain and struggling to control itself the second arrow was loosed. The second shaft struck true just as neatly, leaving the horror half-crippled as the thick bamboo arrows merely flexed as it tried to break free.

Long enough to be called short spears, the arrows were too long to for the horror to remove by itself and stuck deep enough to keep it occupied for the foreseeable future.

His breathed regained its natural rhythm as he scanned his surroundings, mindful of the screeching horror now making a racket. Giving the boxes a judging look and deciding that they were too much for him to simply carry, he projected a backpack and proceeded to fill it with grenades and boxes of ammunition before throwing it on his back and projecting two more and repeating it with both.

Finding his back completely full, he made one more backpack and filled it, holding it in his right hand as he picked up his bow again. He would have to drop the backpack if he wanted to project an arrow but it would have to do.

"Coming back from zone 4, repeat, coming back from zone 4. Out." He spoke into the radio, before he picked up the last bag and turned to run back again. The crackle of the radio was followed by another confirmation and he picked up his pace.

The burn and thrum of his circuits invigorated him as much as it made him feel cautious as he began to run back again. He had kept up his training every night, but rare was the occasion when he projected this many items on such short notice and his circuits were uncomfortably reminding him of this. The burn was considerably higher than usually and his steaming breath with every exhale attested to that.

Still, he didn't feel like he was overextending and his reserves were still fine, but he felt unsure about how long he could keep this up. Somehow it felt like they were thrumming more than they should, but he didn't know what could cause that.

As long as it didn't cripple him, he would ignore it.

Spotting a pair of horrors in front of him, Shirou slowed down and kneeled as quietly as he could. Taking a scan of the area around him, he spotted nothing else around him. But the two horrors did not seem inclined to move any time soon and were blocking his path. He needed to go straight forward to reach the others again, but with the horrors that wasn't possible.

He frowned and fingered the radio, setting the bow down and cupping the microphone on the cord to keep his voice from carrying any further than necessary.

"Trench, come in, over."

" _This is trench, over._ "

"I need a burst of long-range fire at... 4:35-ish, over." The radio was silent for a second after that.

"... _Roger that, firing in 5 seconds, over._ "

Shirou ducked down, getting prone as low on the ground as he could while scanning the surroundings again, keeping one eye on the two horrors. A scant few moments later a burst of bullets ripped though the air, barely missing the two horrors and getting their attention. They looked around but did not seem anything more than curious about the noise.

"Trench, correction, fire at 4:37, over."

" _Roger that, over._ " Another burst of gunfire burst through, grazing one of the two horrors and the two began to whistle and click their claws in rage, suddenly bursting into motion and making it for the trench.

"Trench, two horrors coming in at previously given directions. Coming in after them with munitions; do not fire. I repeat, do not fire. Over."

" _...Roger that. Be advised: keep distance, will use grenades. Over._ "

"Understood, over."

Shirou got up and his legs began pumping like never before, following the charging horrors as closely as he dared as the backpack and the bag weighed him down annoyingly. As the bow in his left hand left him off balance due to its lightness in comparison to the bag, his gait wasn't balanced. He turned and changed course to running diagonally until he was moving nearly parallel with the trench.

Ditching the bow in a shower of sparkling lights so that he could operate the radio, Shirou called into the comm again. "Switching to zone 3, repeat switching to zone 3. Zone 4 clear for fire. Over."

Shirou had barely time to hear the confirmation over the radio as the sounds of gunfire ripped through the air. They were closely followed by the pained howling of horrors, as they were cut down by the hail of bullets. Shirou could already see the trench along with the field now littered with the wounded horrors crawling this way and that with whatever limbs that still functioned as they slowly healed.

Tracer rounds lit the night in bursts, at a rate that did not match the sounds he could hear; unlike his previous use of the specialized bullets, the freelancers were using them as they were supposed to be used. With the stream of light that the tracers made, aiming in the darkness was much easier and the horrors were learning that fact quite painfully.

Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, Shirou made a dash through the field as he avoided the horrors by memory best he could. He didn't want to breathe in any more of their fumes and he reasoned that his eyes would be vulnerable as well. He realized that the corrosive fumes would be a problem and that he would need to get gas masks or something soon, lest they all die from the poisonous air even with their fortifications.

Covering the last dozen meters in a flash, he almost fell over as he made it into the trench. Greedy hands came for his backpacks and he let them be taken as he accepted a bottle of water and a chocolate bar to eat. His breathing was heavy and his clothes were soaked with sweat, but the grinning faces of the men around him made it all worth it.

"We..." He tried to say, motioning to the horrors with one hand. "Poison gas..." He barely managed to get out.

"Don't worry, we got plenty of distance. Plus, with the land breeze picking up it's not coming anywhere near us. At least the night is good for something." A man next to him spoke out as his deft hands filled magazines at a rapid pace and throwing grenades around as people requested them. "That said, more are showing up and the ones already here aren't staying down for long. We're going for the limbs to keep 'em crippled, but at this rate we'll run out of ammo sooner or later. You came at the nick of time too; ran out of frags."

Shirou shared a grin as he greedily devoured the chocolate bar and drank the water. He wondered whether the barrier behind them was impermeable to gases or whether those people would suffer due to him forgetting such a basic facet of these creatures make up. If the wind changed direction, it would be a disaster. He shook his head, there was no time for worrying about it now.

"I have Molotovs in the car, it's in zone 7. I'm going to get the car all the way back to zone 4 and load up the rest of the crates while I'm at it and come back. This way is too slow and risky." Shirou finally spoke and the men around him nodded, saying that he could do whatever he saw fit.

Taking a minute to catch his breath and re-hydrate with another bottle of water, Shirou got up and looked around. Without further ado or ceremony, he jumped up and said that he was going again. Taking a deep breath and covering his eyes, he exploded into motion once again.

Exploding out of the trench, he jumped over a carcass and barreled forward.

Covering the field of writhing water demons in twenty seconds, he made for the nearest grouping of tents and slowed down before crouching. This was where most of freelancers had prepared to sleep and several dozen tents had been erected, set into a rectangle formation with even distances between each tent. Most of their non-combat supplies and any magical reagents and tomes would have been stored here as well along with any of the other personnel's quarters.

This made it a perfect spot for a horror to ambush him, either around a corner or from inside a tent. But at the same time it was also the fastest route to the car.

The rectangle formation of tents was between the trench and the car lengthwise, forming a wall of sorts. Going around would take much longer than simply cutting through and would keep the chances of running into a horror lower, he judged.

But time was of the essence.

A bow would be of no use here and he hadn't brought any of the firearms from the trench. He only had his pistol, still safely in its holster by his right hip, but that would only attract more attention to him if it did come down to a confrontation. The one horror he had shot in the supply tent had been screeching an unholy hell yet nothing had showed up, perhaps due to distance.

Yet when the two horrors had been shot at they recognized the sound of gunfire as the source. This suggested a primitive intelligence or directive, which made them find humans but ignore each other, it seemed to Shirou. Perhaps naturally these monsters tended to prey on each other just as much as they did on anything else? They hadn't so far shown anything resembling teamwork, beyond simple swarm tactics, so it made sense to Shirou.

"—trace _on_ ,"

The longsword settled into his right hand comfortably despite him having almost never used it. It was a mundane piece, a modern high end replica of high middle age's design. Albion something or other. He hadn't trained his sword skills, not since the grail war, as even with Reinforcement it did not make sense to try and use a mundane sword. _That sword_ was also not practical, due to its high cost and projection time and limitations.

Still, he had kept in shape and he remembered everything he had learned. Hell, his physical condition back then and right now were incomparable, despite his inability to create noble phantasms reliably.

He took a cautious step forward. His eyes saw nothing but the slowly shifting canvas of dozens of tents, as the breeze brought a whiff of the carnage around him. The thickness of the air made him feel a little sick and ill at ease. He scowled as he wasn't sure whether he was smelling a horror nearby or one that had been behind him. The could just as easily be from one lingering in this place in wait or the scent could have been carried by the wind.

He took another step, feeling no confidence about his chosen course of action but advancing nonetheless. His eyes hesitantly looked at the two tent corners coming up ahead, switching from one to the other with every step.

In urban warfare, the most common technique used for corners generally was called 'slicing the pie', which meant slowly taking ground and carefully observing what was ahead. But this technique necessitated a team that could protect you and drag you away in case you got shot, as doing it was incredibly risky if someone _was_ just around the corner.

He was also doubly in danger because he had two corners to check, on opposite sides as he came up between the two tents. In teams, such situations could be handle by two point-men or by a rush, but he couldn't do such maneuvers alone. If he tried to do it quickly, he would have to choose one and hope the other one was empty making it into little more than a flip of the coin gamble.

Which only left the slow option of sticking to the middle of the two corners and slowly checking both.

Shirou, alone and without a ranged weapon, felt an incredible pressure as the slow breeze picked up his hair. He felt as if the raging struggle by the trench was a world away and he was in another realm altogether, cut off entirely from the rest of the world as the dark shapes looming around him and the smell of death cloyed his senses.

The hairs on the back of his neck rose as his eyes switched from one corner to the other, jumping left and right while his ears strained like never before, picking up nothing but the rustle of grass, leaves and canvas nearby.

He took another step, finally at the 45 degree cut off after which one false move could kill him. Leaning out he looked one way and then pulled back, then leaning back out and looking the other to confirm there was nothing in the lane ahead lurking to pounce on him.

Shirou let out a sigh of relief, the tension melting from his shoulders.

The sound of something behind him made him freeze.

The next instant was an explosion of motion, of tearing canvas, reaching darkness and of flashing sword.

The instant following that, Shirou landed in the lane between two rows of tents that he had just painstakingly advanced to with deliberate stealth and care. He was in the middle of the two rows of tents as the horror that had tried to pounce on him flailed on the ground, having lost two of its tentacles to two of Shirou's swings in the previous second.

Shirou stepped back another two steps, mindful of the toxic and corrosive fumes the monster emitted, especially when wounded. He made sure to swing the blood of the creature off his sword as well and as he did he made sure not to breathe in.

It was then that he heard the chorus of sounds around him, rising in response to the horror he had wounded. A clicking of teeth to the left of him. A rising whistle like the howling wind making a noise like nails on chalk, behind him. The sound of something falling over as if tackled aside by something big crawling on the ground, some tents over to the left.

A moment of tense silence and motionlessness followed, stretching on uncomfortably as Shirou realized he was surrounded on all sides.

Then he burst into motion, making for the left where the nearest horror was the furthest away from him.

Breaking to left again at the next space between tents, he ducked and jumped over lines holding the tents up as he could hear the horrors behind him make chase. Behind him the tearing of canvas could be heard and the cloth bulged in his peripheral vision, but he didn't stay to see what it was.

Continuing with his mad dash for the other side of the tents instead he ran down the length of the tent in an instant. Jumping out, over the tent poles and the strings holding them up on this side, he made it to the second lane.

There were four rows of tents, which made for three lanes in between them. Stuck in the middle of the three lanes, Shirou could perceive motion and bloodlust all around him. This had been a bad idea, he once again wondered why he had taken that job and not simply walked away back when things still were reasonable.

He spotted the pool of already coagulated blood on the ground, coming out from beneath the side of a tent. Splatters of darkness blotched the tent's side as well, signifying that someone had died a violent death inside.

This place was drowning in death.

He could perceive them at the edge of his senses, the dead, the mutilated, the terrified and the damned. They had tried to fight, had tried to run and had tried to hide. There were as many stories as there had been men; each more desperate and harrowing than the other. Young and old, magi all, he presumed by their dress. Secondary functionaries, support personnel and apprentices. It was hard to tell, but it was obvious they had not been strong enough to survive the horrors' attack.

A cold, murderous calm settled on his mind as his breathing came back under control. He stood straighter and his footing felt somehow surer again, as if the world beneath him had stopped spinning.

The horrors would find him based on line of sight; the smells here mingling too much for them to find him and the sounds only giving away his general location. That meant that here he had an advantage as long as he didn't stop and could stay a step ahead of them.

 _He could kill them all here_.

The sword in his hand felt just right, felt like it had been made for just this purpose. The last drop of the blood fell off the blade and as it hit the ground, somehow the sound went through his entire being like a great drum being beat right next to him.

The first horror to die appeared, barreling in through two tents and spotting him simply standing there. Shirou kicked into a run, straight for the horror.

It pounced, tentacles shooting wide open like a hand reaching out to grab and crush him. He broke to the right and his sword flashed thrice; left-right-left.

The side of the tent to his right fell apart giving him way as three tentacles were cut off in the exchange. The horror flew past him as he ducked into the tent and hit the ground with a thud. Scanning the insides, Shirou grabbed a blanket before frowning at all the fine furniture and shaking his head at the extravagance of magi.

He jumped out and threw the bunched up blanket at the horror, but contrary to his hopes it did not work out like the last time against the charging horror, like it had back near the vampire. He had wanted to bind it and run it through with the sword. But this horror had been stationary and cloth did not work like a weighted net when thrown so it simply landed in between them, accomplishing nothing.

The horror regained its bearings, getting up despite the missing tentacles, whistling in rage and beginning to drag itself toward Shirou.

He wanted to tear it to shreds, to see it in pieces. But, judging by the noise it was making Shirou decided that continuing this encounter was not worth it. Turning on the spot, he bolted and made for another tent that was open for him to enter.

Finding a bloody mess inside, Shirou took the time to calm his breathing and listen to the outside. He was fairly certain the horrors had all congregated around the one he had cut down moments before; his choice to pull back had been the right one.

He weighed his choices; the longer he waited the more the horrors ought to scatter, but the less ammunition and grenades his allies would have left. He looked around the tent he found himself in, spotting a length of cloth to his liking. He wrapped it around his head and neck, hoping it would block the fumes and poisonous air, at least a little.

As five seconds had passed, Shirou felt a presence outside the tent. Then he smelled it and could hear the soft sound of its tentacles against the ground. He grinned and drew back the sword and closed his eyes. His mind constructed an image, judging the distance and location based on the sound, scent and the presence it exuded. He could see it in his mind's eye as clearly as if it were during the day and its shadow was being cast before him onto the cloth.

Another second passed, Shirou inhaled as deeply as he could and then exploded forward like a coiled spring; two first flashes of the sword made an X for him to jump through, the second four flashes cut into the horror offering him no real resistance as it parted its monstrous flesh. This one was a weak creatures, nothing like the ones he had fought earlier.

As he landed and rolled, making distance again, he chanced a look at it and noted that it was smaller and thinner than the other ones he had seen.

Perhaps the act of devouring prey made them stronger; his mood darkened yet again thinking back to how resilient some of them were in comparison to this one. Perhaps it was simply age or a difference between individuals not so easily measured, but this one was weaker and was having trouble regenerating itself.

Shirou did not care as he dashed forward, cutting a tent's support poles as he ran past the horror. The tent collapsed on the already crippled and confused horror and Shirou turned around again in the middle of his sprint, coming to a halt as his shoes skidded on the ground for traction.

Leaping forward he made it on top of the canvas-covered horror and drove his sword through it, point to the ground as if it were a tent pole as well.

The horror made a horrible noise of agony under him as he held his breath, still. Getting up, he rose and jumped up, both feet stomping down on the crossguard of the longsword and driving it hilt deep into the horror and pinning it down into ground completely.

Jumping back at the sound of another one approaching, he sprinted down the lane, ignoring the wounded and pinned horror left behind. With a gasp he drew breath once again, panting like a dog as he ran.

"—trace _on,_ "

Another sword appeared in his hand, just in time for him to turn a corner and come face to face with another horror. His hand snapped out, the blade flying from his grip and bridging the distance in the fraction of a second the horror needed to coil down to pounce, stopping it dead cold as it pierced straight through its body and toppling it.

The trident that appeared instantly joined the sword, pinning down the horror as Shirou used the long lever to push the horror forward on the ground, into an open tent. One of his hands lifted from the shaft and a three pronged dagger appeared in it. The hand flashed down and a tentacle was pinned to the ground. Another three daggers followed suit and Shirou exhaled steam as he pulled back.

His circuits were burning up and he was going through his reserves faster than he liked. This wasn't working; he would have to figure out a more efficient means of handling this. He took a deep breath, mindful to step back and away from the horror as he did so.

There was no meaning behind him pinning down these horrors; he was just lashing out at his own failure to protect and save the people here. It was utterly meaningless. If he wanted to protect someone, it should be the innocent civilians that yet lived and the men who were trusting him to make it back to them.

He placed a hand on the radio, hesitating for a moment as he collected himself from his rampaging anger.

"Trench come in, sitrep. Over."

He waited several seconds, while listening to the world around him, finally hearing a burst of gunfire in the distance and an explosion again. They should be fine, then. He got up, just as the earbud buzzed to life again.

" _Trench here, situation under control. Ammo still plentiful but running out of explosive ordinance. Do you require assistance? Over._ "

"Negative, just checking in. Ran into some trouble on the way and was slowed down. Continuing now. Out."

" _Copy that, Out._ "

He took one more look at the horror and shook his head. As long as the ones here were not attacked they would stay here and feast on the already dead; there was no point in him staying here as well. He turned and listened as he peered out of the tent. Getting his bearing and heading once again, he ran with loping steps as his eyes scanned the surroundings.

The tents were set into four rows, making for three lanes between them, so making it out didn't take long once he knew what to avoid. He continued to run in a low stance, eyes ever watchful as he clutched his trident with one hand.

He reached the location where all the vehicles had been parked, near where the dirt road ended and the fields of wheat and corn began. Shirou frowned, noting that several of the vehicles had been flipped over and beat to hell, confirming what his nose had already hinted at. The smell of blood was thick and the black stains marking the insides of the windows that weren't yet shattered all but confirmed what he thought had happened.

Some people had tried to escape, only to become trapped and then have the horrors break into their cars and kill them while inside. Luckily 'his' car was still in one piece, despite having been pushed all the way to the side of the parking area and nearly into a ditch. The only thing stopping that was another car already in there, blocking it from falling in.

Lucky, that.

But that wasn't what caught Shirou's interest. It was the horror, plainly interested in something inside the car. Shirou blinked and noticed a silhouette in the driver's seat inside the vehicle. Realizing that someone had taken refuge in the Reinforced car from the horrors, his heart surged and he advanced with calm steps as he raised the trident and took aim.

Taking two steps and breaking out into a run, he pulled into a jump and arched his entire body like a bow at full draw. Then, his arm releasing the trident like a rocket. The horror was pierced and was knocked clean off the car, its struggling limbs visible even from behind the chassis in the ditch where it fell.

Shirou landed with a stumble and continued walking to the car, finally making eye-contact with the wide-eyed man inside. The pale face of the man who had looked up once the horror had been knocked off the car blinked at Shirou. It was the Enforcer. Shirou blinked and then noticed another man in the backseat, holding a bleeding stump of a left arm with his eyes closed and body limp.

He tried the door and found it locked; he gave the Enforcer inside a look but the man didn't seem to acknowledge his presence beyond a blank stare. Shirou shook his head and fished for the keys in his pocket. In a second he had the door unlocked and open, making the Enforcer visibly panic and begin struggling to close the door again. Shirou put his hip against the door, using his body weight to hold it open as the Enforcer kept trying to force it back shut without even acknowledging Shirou, making Shirou frown at the man.

This didn't seem like a hardened warrior magus to him, in fact it seemed more like he was in psychosis or shock.

Shirou shrugged—took a look around for any horrors and finding none—socked the Enforcer straight in the face, feeling the cartilage in the nose break under his knuckles. Dragging out the man who was now holding his bleeding nose, he opened the back-seat door as well and threw him in the back with the other man. The blonde in the back roused at the contact, eyes half-lidded and uncomprehending.

Shirou recognized this one as well; it was the man who had brought him needle and thread. The man who had asked him about his sowing.

They seemed an unlikely pair. Then again, they had been close to each other since they had been in the same tent originally so it did make some sense that they had stuck together. It had been Shirou who had moved away from that group. He frowned as he wondered how many had survived; several at least were in the trench, waiting for him.

Shrugging, he closed the door and sat in the drivers seat himself, pulling the key out again. Only to frown as he looked under the wheel. The cover had been ripped loose and several of the electrical wires had been ripped out and cut. Almost as if someone had been trying to hot-wire the car without any idea how to actually do it.

Shirou looked back to the Enforcer, who seemed to have regained a glimmer of recognition in his eyes as their eyes met. "Your handiwork, I presume?"

The man's eyes followed Shirou's nod, noticing the tangled wires. He swallowed nervously and looked around again as his breathing hastened. But seeing nothing around them, even the horror previous having calmed down a little as it had crawled away to hide in some hole.

"Th-they were all around us. Every window, pressed right up against it... The smell, it was horrible... Everyone was—!" He spoke slowly, haltingly as his eyes became distant again. Shirou frowned again; definitely seemed like shock. Had the Enforcer been that green?

No, it was the fumes, probably. Shirou had noticed his mind swimming when he got too close to those horrors. Stuck in this car, with one right on top of him would leave anyone prey to the poisonous gas.

Shirou ignored his babbling and locked the doors again, after which he turned his attention to fixing the wires. Deigning the job of actually getting the thing to work normally a waste of time, Shirou instead simply successfully hot-wired the thing himself.

The car came to life just as he knew it would and he turned on the headlights, almost scaring the crap out of himself as five horrors in the darkness suddenly bolted and ran away at the lights being turned on.

They had gotten that close without Shirou noticing at all.

"...Fucking hell." Shirou had to admit he felt his heart jump into his throat. "Alright, you guys hold tight, this is going to be a bumpy ride."

* * *

It _was_ a bumpy ride.

The car was your average, slightly higher end passenger car; a good classy five door car in black, but nothing that would bankrupt your average income middle-class family. Which meant it was definitely not designed to drive through the mostly even fields and the tall grass that characterized England.

Still, he took it slowly and ignored the horrors that jumped on them, trying to find purchase before falling off again.

They seemed to find the car curious, but once they realized that it was too tough to crack open they lost interest fairly quickly despite the loudness and brightness drawing them in like moths. Shirou really did not understand the horrors at all. Behind him, the Enforcer finally seemed to be gathering his wits again, looking around and staring at Shirou, as if not sure who he was.

"What is it?" Shirou asked.

"You're... You're the bodyguard the Lord hired?"

Shirou frowned, before he realized he was still covering his face and mouth with the cloth he had found in a tent. Not seeing any reason to keep it on, he removed it from his face. The air in the car was stale and humid, smelling of blood and something acrid and the cloth hadn't done much to filter it out. But it had added a layer that felt like it distanced Shirou from that, so he had worn it anyhow. He frowned at the air, rolling a window down enough to let the air flow through. It might also give him the chance to smell a horror if it approached, he told himself.

The stagnant air outside made him frown as he felt bloated somehow by it; had it gotten worse?

"So, what were you doing in my car?" Shirou asked nonchalantly, ignoring the fact that it wasn't really his car at all.

"I... The water demons, there were too many of them. We had to run away, they wouldn't stop coming, it was all we could do to keep them back." The man descended into hysterics again, his breathing becoming erratic as his eyes darted all around them.

"Who's he? How is he still alive?" Shirou asked, looking at the armless man who despite the missing limb was still alive. That kind of injury should have killed him in less than a minute, with his heart's blood pumping out from his artery like a garden hose. But even though Shirou couldn't see any kind of tourniquet or first aif applied to the stump of a limb, the man was still breathing.

If only weakly.

"Who...?" The Enforcer asked before noticing the still form next to him. "Oh... the homunculus?"

Homunculus? Shirou frowned as he took a closer look at the man. He did indeed have rather pale hair, that at a close look did appear white. He had been wearing a cap before, so Shirou had not paid it any more attention then. Shirou was not too familiar with the bodies of homunculi, despite... Despite his close relationship with Ilya. So he didn't know how bad losing an arm was for one.

Offering nothing more on the subject, the Enforcer looked like he was about to start babbling to himself again. Shirou sighed, not wanting to deal with the man going hysterical while he was driving. The terrain was bad enough as it was without someone going nuts right behind him.

"You know, I never did catch your name. I'm Shirou Emiya." Shirou looked behind him as he spoke, making eye-contact with the Enforcer, anchoring him to the present with the words. The man blinked, before opening and closing his mouth as a spark of his old self seemed to return to him.

"I'm... Adrian. Adrian Mallard-Feyn." He spoke quietly, almost a whisper as if he was telling himself rather than answering Shirou's question. "I'm a magus. The third head of the Mallard-Feyns, a _magus_."

He repeated that word, as if concentrating and then began to mutter to himself quietly.

Shirou blinked as he strained to listen, but finally stopped bothering and concentrated on the road ahead. Or rather the lack thereof. They had to go a roundabout route due to the terrain; it was good that he had memorized a route they could use to reach the supply tent.

With any luck, they wouldn't find any more horrors there and would be able to load the car up full with crates and then make it for the trench.

Speaking of...

"Trench come in. Over." Shirou spoke, glancing at the two behind him. Neither noticed him talking into the radio. "Trench come in. Over."

" _This is trench. Over._ "

"I have the car, moving to supplies at zone 4. ETA 10 minutes. Out." Shirou let go of the radio and peered at the rear-view mirror. He could see shapes and silhouettes behind them, following the car just out of the rear lights red glow. It seemed that the horrors were stalking them and waiting for a chance to get them once they stopped.

He looked back to the Enforcer, Adrian, critically. If he wanted to get loaded up, he would need this man's help. However, judging by his current appearance and behavior, that seemed a long-shot at best. Shirou frowned and tried to think back to Mallard-Feyn's behavior before all of this. He had been proud, arrogant even. Certain of himself and his place in the world.

The breach of the perimeter and the appearance of the horrors had been a shock to him, somehow.

Had it been the failure of the Clock Tower to hold ground, or his own fear of the horrors that had made this man crack? Shirou pondered this as he continued to drive and keep an eye on the following shadowy horrors. He counted three at least, but their numbers seemed to swell and dissipate with every passing minute, ever changing.

"Hah, I guess you really were different from those freelancers." Shirou finally jeered, putting on a grin as he looked at the rear-view mirror and noticing the Enforcer stiffen up momentarily. "They were dumb enough to group up and try to fight. You did the _smart thing_ and ran, am I right?"

The smirk Shirou gave the Enforcer struck him like a physical slap to the face, he pulled back and mouthed something but no words came out. Protests, excuses, rationalizations. Shirou simply huffed with amusement and continued driving.

It looked like it worked; the Enforcer looked angry.

That would slap some fire back into the man, Shirou thought. Or hoped at least. He looked at the homunculus who was still barely breathing and unconscious and decided that he would be of no use. Shirou would have to move him over to make room for more crates. Looking over to the front passenger seat, he found the Molotovs in the foot-space still there.

Checking his hip for his pistol and knowing he had Molotovs again, Shirou felt secure in taking out several horrors if it came down to it. Having Mallard-Feyn at his back would help but Shirou figured he would handle the delay it would take to dispense with the horrors, before loading the car if he had to.

He just hoped no more horrors would be pulled in by the sounds of fighting.

They arrived by the tent shortly. Shirou slowed down considerably as he began to see the supply tent. He wanted to make sure that he was aware of everything around them before even taking a step out of the car. He hadn't seen any of the horrors following them for over a minute, but that did not particularly make him feel any safer.

"Why are we stopping? Where are we?" Adrian asked, his eyes darting around and appearing unable to recognize their location while in the darkness.

"We're getting supplies and then making it for the rest of the camp. As long as we can get enough ammunition we can ride this out—" Shirou was cut short as he felt an impact on his back and then suddenly Mallard-Feyn was in his face, holding him by the collar as he had jumped between the front seats to face Shirou.

"Weren't you listening?! I told you already, they're everywhere! I killed a dozen, more! And they just kept coming and getting back up! We have to get out of here!" Shaking him as he spoke, Adrian was spitting on Shirou as he screamed and panting like a dog in his panic. Shirou smelled something unusual as he remained silent.

"Adrian. Listen to me." Shirou began, but was cut off.

"No! No. We, we have to get out of here. Right now!"

Shirou punched him again, this time in the gut. He grabbed the man's hair and lifted him so they were face to face again.

"Adrian. Calm down; did you breathe in the poisonous fumes when they died? You have to cycle your od, right now. It should help."

The man stared at him, uncomprehending. So Shirou shook him and repeated. "Cycle your od right now before I hit you again. Do it."

Mallard-Feyn swallowed and avoided eye-contact, his eyelids fluttering as he tried to concentrate. His eyes closed and his brows furrowed. Shirou could feel the rising magical energy weakly, even despite their proximity it was difficult to sense the internal workings of a magus.

There was a slight scent of ozone to the air with a hint of some kind of metal, Shirou noted with curiosity as the Enforcer opened his eyes again. There was a glimmer of clarity in those orbs and more than a hint of confusion.

Shirou felt he had been right; the fumes had strange properties but Reinforcement seemed to help fighting it off. Hadn't that been what Rin had said? Either the fumes functioned as some sort of hallucinogenic or its corrosive and poisonous effects had amplified the psychosis Adrian had experienced.

"I..." He began, but Shirou did not let him talk.

"Now listen. Running away won't work, in the dark of night you won't get far and the horrors have the advantage in low visibility. We have a good, fortified position where we can stand for as long as we need to, but we need more ammunition." Shirou talked, holding eye-contact with the force of a vise grip. "See that tent?"

Adrian looked, almost hesitantly.

"That's where the explosive supplies and ammunition was stored. There's enough there to keep us fighting for a week. We have to fill up the car and then be off as quickly as possible. Can you handle getting the car loaded?" Shirou remembered that the individual crates were small enough to be handled by one man, so as long as the Enforcer was coherent enough to work, they shouldn't have any problems.

"I... Yes." Mallard-Feyn nodded, almost hesitantly. "But what about the water demons? Won't they attack us?"

"You leave that to me, just keep the car running and watch out for anything while you get the stuff. If you have to leave without me, make for the civilian holding field and you'll be safe."

"...Okay. _Okay_." He didn't seem convinced of Shirou's ability to hold off the horrors but the plan Shirou proposed seemed to give him something tangible to work with. Something to hold onto and not devolve back into his previous state.

The fact that Shirou had gotten the car running must have seemed a plus in the Enforcer's book so if nothing else he could just drive off if Shirou got himself killed.

Shirou pulled to a halt next to the tent's opening. The horror from before was nowhere to be seen, but that was to be expected. Shirou leaned over and took several Molotov cocktails as he unlocked the door. He took a deep breath and contemplated wearing the cloth around his face. He decided that any little bit helped and put it on again before stepping out of the car with baited breath.

The darkness of the night had finally fully settled around them, the slight wind rustling grass and canvas as the car hummed lightly behind him. The sound of the door closing seemed the echo around them as Shirou tried to perceive beyond the veil of black. There was nothing there, he judged but knew better. Still, somehow the stagnant air seemed to make him feel subdued. Tired.

He shook that off and kept his vigilance.

He knocked with his hand on the glass and motioned for Mallard-Feyn to join him as he walked two steps forward. He neared the tent and scanned the insides, finding it empty sans the half-devoured corpses and the signs of his previous visit. The horrors were probably approaching silently, looking for the best opportunity to pounce and take him unawares.

Still, the time it gave him to work would not be put to waste. By the time he heard the car door opening behind him, Shirou had already grabbed two chests and hauled them up to the car. He nodded to Adrian who was looking around just as warily as he had before turning to go back for more.

They worked like this in silence for a minute, before anything happened.

It was the snapping of a twig to their left, where a lone tree stood. Both of them froze for a second before giving each other a look. Shirou motioned for them to continue, as he slowed his breathing. His senses reached out and the wind calmed down for a moment, giving him the scent of a horror lurking nearby.

He eased his shoulders, finding the two bottles in his jacket pocket and checking that his pistol was still on his hip. Finding both, he turned toward the tree and suddenly the tension seemed to sky rocket.

He couldn't see anything, but he knew he was staring right at the horror.

The horror knew he knew it was there and he knew that as well. It was stand off, in the truest sense of the word; the predatory instincts in the horror urging it to keep motionless until the prey bolted, hoping that it hadn't been made, trying to leverage every inch out of stealth before pouncing. But of course, if there were more than one...

"Behin—"

Then of course they would have been surrounding him and any horror seeing his open back wouldn't have been able to resist the temptation! He jumped to the side, drawing a bottle with his left hand as his right found the handle of the pistol and brought both to his chest as he rolled back to his feet. He had felt the air of _something_ flying past him at the last instant and he spotted the figure now before him as the other in the bushes ahead rose as well to join the tussle.

His hand lashed out and then there was a flash in the night.

The gunshot was only barely preceded by the clatter of shattering glass, which was followed an instant later by the _whoof_ of the horror catching fire. The other horror realizing its proximity to the fire and the first horror being lit up completely by the dancing flames, bolted and disappeared into the shadows as Shirou drew the second bottle.

"—d you...!" Shirou heard the rest of the shout, as the world returned to normal speed after his burst of action. The wailing and screaming of the horror on fire as well as the bonfire itself seemed to bring life and light back into the night, which had moments before seemed like a cold underworld. Having been brought back to the surface from the colorless world of the beneath by the dancing flames, Shirou felt reinvigorated.

Nothing else seemed to be approaching. Were the horrors learning or were these simply different in nature to the ones he had fought before? Did the light make them cautious here, where they had been enraged before? Something about them had changed and Shirou couldn't say why. He shook his head, getting back to carrying the crates as nothing more showed up; he wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.

The rest took little more than a few minutes and soon they were back in the car, driving toward the trench. As Shirou had contacted them by the radio, they had sounded overjoyed but had also reported that the horrors had seemed to be pulling back. It was as if they were abandoning their previous rage and cowering before them instead.

Shirou noted the similarity with the recent change in the horrors himself and wondered about it. This entire run had been much, much easier than he had even dared to hope but somehow he could not feel relieved. It felt more like a calm before the storm than a well earned reprieve, somehow.

They arrived at the trench a minute later than Shirou had originally anticipated, but he could not complain. No one had been injured in his absence, the bounded field still held and they now had enough supplies to last through the night, at the very least.

But.

"Where are all the horrors...?" Shirou asked, as he got out of the car. He had brought the car parallel to the bounded field, making sure not to leave it in a location where it would obstruct them or give the horrors cover to approach. The ground was pock marked with grenade marks and with burned grass. One of the spotlights had been knocked over but still worked despite the cracked glass. But there were no horrors, dead or alive, left anywhere to be seen.

The freelancers hopped out from the trench, joyfully greeting him with raucous laughter and wide grins.

"Hah! They got pushed back every time they tried and now they've run back with their tails between their legs!"

"How can you tell? Tail or leg, looked the same to me!"

"Well obviously the tails are between the legs!"

"Damn right!"

"Hey! Look who's still kicking! Mally's still among the living, huh?"

"Rick's homunculus's in the back, too. Fuck, Rick got torn apart but his meat-shield made it. Not in one piece, but still kicking. Eh, looks pretty bad..."

Shirou frowned at that. "Who's Rick? And what was that about the homunculus?"

The man turned to him, in the middle of getting a crate that had been stacked next to the wounded man in the back of the car. Despite the wounded man being noticed by everyone no one was in any hurry to help, Shirou noted as his frown deepened.

"Huh? Oh, you didn't know him. Used to buy combat homunculi for cheap off of some alchemists—defective products that they needed to off load or something, I dunno—to use as his meat shields while he used magecraft." He huffed an explanation, somehow deriving amusement from the death of this Rick as his _meat-shield_ had survived. "Liked to think he was some magus, even though he was nothing more than a third son. Pathetic fucker, really."

More than one freelancer gave the man speaking a glare, but no one said anything to defend the memory of the homunculus' previous _master_. Shirou looked at the battered form of the homunculus, noting the wounds and the missing limb but the lack of bleeding, the continued breathing and half-lidded eyes that still seemed to have fight in them.

"What'll happen to him now?" Shirou asked, nodding towards the homunculus. No one paid his question any heed as they continued to off load the crates and filled their magazines and persons with munitions. He received only shrugs and a few 'who knows?' which made him frown.

Shirou shook his head and moved to get the man out of the car, hoisting the good arm around his neck as he put his own arm around the waist to support the barely conscious homunculus. Making it to the trench, he asked for some medical supplies which he only got after insisting for a second time after he was given strange looks.

He took a closer look at the stump of an arm and frowned. It looked relatively normal to him, only it wasn't bleeding out like arms tended to when cleanly severed. Arteries did not heal or clog quickly enough to prevent one from bleeding to death, not naturally anyhow. The more he looked, the more confused he got.

"..." The homunculus tried to whisper something, catching Shirou's attention. He leaned closer, pressing his ear as near the homunculus' face as he could. "...broken... why... repair...?"

Shirou leaned back, frowning at that. "Because I can try...?"

Unless the homunculus just wanted a quick death, Shirou wasn't sure what to do. He put a tourniquet around the arm, just in case however, as he sat back down with a thoughtful frown.

"You do realize it's a homunculus, right?" A man next to him said, in the same tone of voice someone would inform you that you were wearing your shirt inside out. "It just needs magical energy to run. So, if you wanna save that, you'll have to fuck it."

The last was said with a leer, almost as if it was a dare. The men around him chuckled at him and Shirou felt distinctly uncomfortable. Did that mean that Rick had to do it that way as well? "I thought Rick was a man?"

The silence that his question aroused was deafening, followed by the riotous laughter as the men broke down in gales of laughter. Some had tears in their eyes as well and Shirou wasn't sure if it was entirely proper to be laughing at a dead man's expense but he figured this was as much at whatever he had said as it was the uncoiling of all the nervous tension they had been storing over the night.

"Oh god, he _was_ a man and he _might have been_ doing it like that, knowing the man. But no, the alchemists sell them with contracts; familiar bonds, yeah?" The man explained between the fleeting remnants of his laughter; he had almost fallen over in his gales moments before.

That explained it. Not too dissimilar to Servants, in a sense. Well, that made things simpler. He drew his pistol and by the looks he received they no doubt thought he had chose to end the homunculus' misery over trying to make a tantric exchange ritual.

He drew back the slide on the pistol and the chambered bullet popped out, unspent and still usable. He re-holstered his gun and took out his knife again, this time carving out the jewel from inside the bullet without caring much for ruining the bullet.

He held the jewel in front of the homunculus' eyes. If it had worked for awakening his circuits years ago then it should work for a quick pick-me-up for this man. "This thing is loaded with magical energy. It's inert, but if it breaks it will explode. You saw me shoot that horror before, right?"

Seeing no answer, but certain of the homunculus being aware and listening, Shirou continued.

"I'm giving you a choice here; either you absorb it, or you break it and let it explode. Live or die, it's your choice, ok?" Shirou spoke slowly, keeping eye-contact. He detected a slight shake of the head, meaning _no_. Shirou furrowed his brows as he looked at the homunculus. Did he have a death wish? Living without an arm was that bad for this man?

"Look, I don't know any other way to give you magical energy; this is the only way you'll live."

But the homunculus was not swayed. Shirou sighed, getting up and frowning.

He pulled back and pocketed the gem, making sure to put it in a pocket where it wouldn't fall out easily. He would either have to repair the bullet or dispose of it somehow, if this man didn't want his help. It was out of his hands, if someone didn't want his help then he wasn't sure he could very well force it on them.

Still... It rankled him. Why wouldn't he let himself be saved? Shirou stared at the homunculus, trying to understand what he was thinking.

The homunculus kept looking at Shirou, struggling to keep eye-contact. Shirou furrowed his brows as he neared again, listening to the homunculus' words as well as he could. "...Cut off...world..."

 _Cut off, world?_

Shirou blinked, what did that mean? He tried to ask the homunculus to clarify, only to notice he had dozed off. His breathing was slow and steady, but pained nonetheless. Shirou frowned and pressed his hand against the homunculus' chest and closed his eyes.

Structural Analysis of other creatures was difficult at best, especially if they had magical energy. But a drained homunculus shouldn't have too much power left and none to fight him off, thus it should be possible to analyze...

Except, he couldn't. Rebuffed by the homunculus own internal magical energy, he could do nothing.

Shirou let go and his frown deepened further. This didn't make sense, if anything the homunculus had an overflow of magical energy. That shouldn't be the case at all, Shirou realized as he got up.

"I keep telling you, we can't leave!" Mallard-Feyn's voice broke Shirou out of his thoughts as he returned to the others, who were formed around a make-shift table with the map of the camp. Some gave him knowing grins and whistles after glancing at the homunculus' direction but Shirou ignored them.

"What do you mean, we can't leave?" Another—the man who had been using the radio with Shirou and had assumed de-facto command over everyone else—asked almost roaring out the question to match the volume of the Enforcer. Shirou noted that few seemed to like the Enforcer, as many were glaring at him.

"Adrian. Calm down and explain what you're trying to say." Shirou walked in and spoke with a more appropriate volume. The attention at large was instantly on him and they all quieted down.

The Enforcer scowled but then took a long breath and nodded continuing.

"I wasn't just hiding in the car when you found me. I tried making it for the combat group to get some of the other Enforcers to come help reclaim the camp, but when my familiar made it to the edge of the field it couldn't get out, and then it was killed by one of the water demons." Adrian spoke, looking down at the map and then pointing a finger at the dirt road where Shirou had entered himself hours earlier. "I tried to go there myself, ending up trapped in that car when they attacked in waves without giving me any rest.

"I don't know how or by who, but the perimeter field has been turned inside out somehow; it used to let you leave at any point from the inside and blocked entry from outside except when at the road it was lifted to grant entry. But if my familiar couldn't leave...

"It means we're trapped here."

* * *

You know, this whole chapter swelled way out of hand. In my outline it said "Shirou gets stuck in camp, horrors attack, have to defend civilians." and I managed to get my biggest chapter so far out of that. Fuck.

Re-edited and re-uploaded on 10.3.2018


	7. Loop 6-5

If only one could tread into the inside of the World...

The trick, Relchronos had come to realize, was using the artefact as if it were a tower, or rather a like spotlight. Lifting all the restrictions was all but impossible, but he could work around some of them enough that he could make use of its wondrous abilities.

One of the main thing magi worked with, was the definition of things.

The simplest way of explaining the power of "definitions" was an old joke he had heard told regarding a mathematician building an enclosure for sheep at the behest of a shepherd. The body of the joke was irrelevant, but the _punchline_ had always stuck with him.

" _I am outside!_ " The mathematician would exclaim proudly, inside an enclosure barely large enough for himself. But did it actually mean anything? Did it make it actually so to say and believe something? By simply saying that you were on the outside, did it make it so? No, of course it did not. Not unless you were far removed from humanity, more akin to a Divine Spirit or an ultimate existence of some form, capable of denying _everything else_ that denied _you_.

He had long been able to _see_ things; deduce their cause and effect and see how all things in accordance must be or shall be. It was not the prediction of the Alchemists, nor was it the rarer still form of calculation. It was closer to true divination, yet it had always fallen a step short.

It was not divination as it did not allow him to perceive events or things directly, rather it allowed him to see variables and the circumstances that birthed them. It gave him the view of the ever winding and twisting roads far below, but never outright told him what he was looking.

He had long postulated, that the World's corrective impulses could be harnessed to create events and influence outcomes. As long as the variables could be altered, surely the outcome would change as well?

It was only as he had acquired this vaunted relic, the spear of King Arthur himself, that he had been able to test out his old hypothesis. No direct records existed of its power, yet with his flawed divination he could almost perceive how it was _inside_ and _outside_ at the same time.

If only one could tread into the inside of the World...

In the case of certain Divine Spirits, the passing of time was almost meaningless to them. They could perceive and influence things within their authority with ability approaching omniscience and omnipotence. And what were the Divine Spirits, but extensions of the Planet's will?

To be a magus, was to fool reality and steal power between the cracks. To _steal fire from the gods_ and to _bargain with the devil_ _for purpose_. These legends defined _man_ to Relchronos, but more importantly defined magi as well.

Surely, if one could tread into the inside of the World, then one could tread back out as well. But just as the myriad of laws of physics are mutable and self-imposed inventions of humanity that have changed with the passing of time, so too must time be something that only humanity has shackled itself to obey. The Planet does not see an unchangeable sequence of events, nor does it see the "Cause & Effect" that humanity had so fallen in love with as of late.

Rhongomyniad, The Spear That Shines To The Ends Of The Earth.

Quite literally, so. It's power supported the exterior of the World, it's power reaching all the way to the Core of the Interior. A truly awe-inspiring relic. One that very few knew even existed.

He had taken this small authority, and used it to enter and exit the inside of the World. The trick was _where_ and _when_. As he had come out, it was not in the same _place_ as he had entered. It was not the same _time_ , either.

After all, his false divination did not say that he had or had not been here in this moment. It merely told him that if one squinted just right, then _surely_ he _must have been_ there at that time.

Gaia certainly seemed to believe that, at least.

He found some irony in the fact that just as the Planet's will sought to stop him with its emissaries, so at the same time did it allow him—nay, outright helped him—to bring forth just what he needed to oppose those emissaries.

To Gaia a minute, a day, several hundred years or even several hundred million years were all equally meaningless. Just as he could pluck out a horror from the 15th century, so too could he bring forth much, _much_ older things.

* * *

Waver couldn't understand where everything had gone wrong.

Everything had made sense; everything had fallen into place in the puzzle that was this case. Or so he had thought, once he had met with Adashino once more. He had gotten the force he needed to finish this entire debacle by wrenching control from Adashino. Everything should have been straightforward after he had reasoned the _how_ , the _who_ and the _why_ out. With those, he could simply strong-arm himself into leading the Clocktower contingent, seeing as how they hadn't been able to achieve anything by themselves. But now everything had been flipped on its head, somehow.

It had started when they had left the camp. They had taken one of the Department of Policies vehicles, fitted with better protections and capacity. Filled to the brim with magi who outshone himself in magecraft by a wide margin, he had the kind of battle potential that should have made finishing this a piece of cake.

The Department of Policies needed this entire case handled as quickly and as neatly as possible, lest the other powers got funny ideas. Given that it was occurring quite literally in the Clocktower's backyard, they needed to catch ' _Hermit_ ' just as much as _he_ wanted his hands around Relchronos' neck. They couldn't afford to lose face like this; having one of their vaults broken into, Enforcer's killed and then being left with nothing to cover their shame. It was just the kind of stuff that other Departments dreamed about happening to their competitors.

He didn't give one whit about Adashino or her politics, he just wanted to find Relchronos and get some answer and then put a bullet in him.

But it looked like that wouldn't be happening any time soon. He had been effectively checkmated and his authority with the men Adashino had handed him was growing thin. She was breathing down his neck right now, no doubt waiting to wring him for any information the moment he proved unable to further handle the situation.

He had thought to track down the hiding magus by mapping out the flow of Mana and the use of leylines in Leiston, but after the first few reports came in he realized that it had been too obvious a solution. So obvious in fact that Relchronos must have added counter-measures as a matter of course. As expected of a Grand, he muttered bitterly while biting his cigar.

Placing several dozens of stagnation bounded fields served to both hide his location and to gather magical energy, Waver realized quickly as he had cursed the inconsistency of reports. He had hoped to make contact with Arcueid Brunestud again and by sharing information have her offer them a hand. With her help, tearing through any defensive measures would be a piece of cake.

Tearing down bounded fields was difficult work, even for experts—which they only had one of at the moment to rely on—and they had too many to deal with to even hope of wrapping this up quickly. If he could somehow locate the magus himself directly, then it could be possible to ignore the dummies but he had nothing to work with.

He had inquired after the remains of the last head of the Emiya once he had realized that his recent hire had been crestless, but to his dismay he had found out that Japanese traditionally burned their dead. Several hundred years of hard work and sacrifice which had even managed to earn the recognition of the Clocktower, burned on a funeral pyre by barefooted, belly-slashing barbarians who were only good for the games they made. Waver had cursed at that and sworn to boycott a game or two as petty revenge. With the crest, it should have been possible to locate the rest of it which should be in Relchronos' hands.

As it was, he had nothing to offer the White Princess, but had still decided to make contact with her. He could still point out the locations of various bounded fields and she could brute force through them one by one until they found Relchronos' hiding place. Even if they only took down a quarter of them, it would give him enough to work with to figure out where the actual hiding place was.

He had begun to wonder if putting aside Emiya had been a good idea, now that he was effectively surrounded by Adashino's underlings. He had originally hired the freelancer purely as a precaution, not certain whether the Department of Policies had a hand in the previous nights events as they had a history of having a finger in every pie. But with his realization that they wanted Relchronos hunted down as much as he had, he had weighed their cooperation to be worth more than one freelancer.

Waver had noticed the man was quite sensitive to those bounded fields, noticing the one that had held Arcueid Brunestud before anyone else had despite having none of their overwhelming talent or experience with magecraft. It might be prudent to call in and have Emiya join their fold, he had thought.

And then he had been informed that they no longer could get in contact with the base camp and that Miss Tohsaka and Miss Edelfelt had gone missing as well. The two from the Department of Mineralogy weren't exactly his allies, but they seemed to have similar aims and were reliable and powerful magi. Waver had taught both, and while he couldn't say he was fond of either he did feel that he understood both.

Still, even without them as long as he had the backing off the Department of Policies he could manage. Or so he had thought, but it seemed that someone else had different ideas.

As of course, that was when the _dragons_ showed up.

The dragons which—contrary to everything he knew about the internal workings, hierarchies and function of the Planet—decided to gang up on Arcueid. By the time the third dragon had been punched through a building only to be replaced by another that appeared out of the ether, Waver gave up on trying to reason out what was happening.

As another building went up in dust and rubble following an earth shaking attack from the True Ancestor, Waver felt a little better. Right now, they were all equally useless weaklings it seemed.

"How is this possible?" One of the combat magi, who had seemed to confident and certain before, could only stare in awed horror at the great cataclysm occurring right then and there.

Waver had some inkling, but the ridiculousness of that idea made him want to not say it out aloud. Still, if he wanted to keep on top of these people it would be good if he did appear to be in charge and in the know.

"They're dragons." Waver began, getting more than one incredulous look from those around him. "But for them to ignore the authority of the True Ancestor can only mean that they do not know of it. The horrors—water demons of Prelati, as you know them—are very much the same; creatures brought forth from another age to rampage and distract us."

"Some distraction... But that doesn't explain shit, how would bringing a dragon from somewhere else make it attack the White Princess?"

"Because once the moon-blooded did not walk this Earth with Gaia's authority. Long ago, perhaps even before the existence of man and all things we now consider Old, dragons already walked this Earth. They do not see the highest of the elementals, a fellow nature spirit, here and now. They simply see an Alien invading their World."

There was a pregnant silence.

"...You're telling me those are _dinosaurs_...?"

"...Yes." Waver forced himself to keep his face straight. "Yes, I am."


	8. Loop 6-6

_"It means we're trapped here."_

This statement got the freelancer's in a buzz and Shirou frowned. He hadn't noticed anything going on with bounded field before now, but if someone wanted them out of the picture then using it against them seemed like a smart move. Turning one's own fortress into a trap, essentially. But, what bothered him was that it shouldn't be possible to simply turn a bounded field against its owners like that. Not from the outside, at least.

Was there indeed a spy, like the Clocktower officials had worried? Or was _Hermit_ simply that good? Neither option brightened Shirou's mood much.

"So what do we do?" The leader turned to Shirou, passing the hot potato of command to someone else without hesitation, Shirou realized. Shirou hesitated only for a moment, before looking at the rest of the group.

"Anyone here know anything about the bounded field? Can you check it out from here?" Shirou asked but received only some quiet mumbling and turning heads in reply. Damn it, it really did seem like these people were nothing more than "dumb muscle".

He sighed. He was lucky to at least know the basics himself, having left quite early from the Clocktower in his education. But having seen a variety of magical fields, both before and after his time in the Mage's Association, he was probably the most knowledgeable person present on the subject.

It wasn't exactly a field he held expertise in, but he knew the basics of the theory.

He couldn't make them himself worth a damn, but he should be able to figure out the rough specifics at least. Though given that it could take professional field breakers weeks the unravel more complicated fields, he didn't have much hope for success if it came down for him to break them out.

"Does anyone know _anything_ about the field?" He tried, looking them in the eyes and finding most of them unwilling to meet his eyes. Did the magi so jealously guard their secrets?

"Like, who made it? Is it bound to some physical object or just the leylines themselves? How long would it have remained active normally? Can it be broken through with physical force?" Shirou asked, but no one seemed to have any answers. He turned to the only one whose name he had learned; "Adrian, you must know _something_ , at least."

The Enforcer looked startled to be put under the spotlight but he vigorously shook his head. "No. I mean, I don't know anything. It was already up by the time I arrived. I had to meet you in town, remember?"

"So no one knows anything?" Shirou asked, almost exasperated. He knew he was a half-assed third rate magus, but the level of incompetence here staggered him. The continued silence made him sigh explosively as he rubbed his temples. "Right. Can anyone other than Adrian confirm what he said about us being trapped?"

"Radio doesn't work. With the other group, I mean."

"...Same for cellphones, I don't have any signal."

"...You brought a cellphone?"

"What? Of course, this job was going to be boring as all hell! No way would I just leave it behind!"

"They'd have you hide if they found out, you stupid—"

Shirou rubbed his forehead, definitely feeling the beginnings of a headache forming as he ignored the two that began to loudly argue. He had only just returned and already he would have to go out and find a boundary again to judge things for himself. At least he wasn't far from the edge of the outer field, as following the civilian holding field should allow him to find the edge quickly enough.

That did remind him that his own cell was in the car. He had thought to charge it during the way, but had forgotten to get a charger. The thing was handy but it wasn't really his style. Besides, his agent kept telling Shirou to keep it turned off with the battery removed. Something about the alphabet soup agencies again, but Shirou didn't understand most of it. Still, he'd forgotten it on so he would be lucky if it still had power.

"Oi, didn't we haul a Mana Generator here?"

"...That big hunk of junk? You mean that thing?"

"Wouldn't that be the source of the bounded field? I mean, I don't see why we would have to drag it all the way here if they didn't need it for _something_."

Shirou had perked at that. "Where exactly is that Mana Generator? If it is the power source, it should be possible to turn it off."

Or so he hoped. Also, if the Generator was powering the field, then that meant that it might also be powering the second barrier protecting the civilians. If that thing came down, they would all be vulnerable and ripe for the picking for the horrors.

"...They wanted it somewhere by their own tents, right?"

"Yeah, it was by the tents. Right in the middle; the purple tent. You can't miss it." The tone of voice somehow seemed exasperated by the coloring of the tent. As if only a magus would choose something like that, or so it sounded to Shirou's ear. He wasn't sure what to look for, but he could work with what he had.

"Alright, I'm going to go check it out." Shirou said as he turned to walk to the car; he would first check the phone and then get the rest of his Molotovs... Or would he even need them if the horrors were...

"Hey, wait!" He heard someone behind him shout, running to catch up. "What do you mean, you're going to go check it out?"

Shirou raised an eyebrow at the Enforcer.

"Exactly that. Why?" Shirou said, a little more harshly than perhaps necessary. The Enforcer flinched at his gaze.

"I- But the horrors, they're still out there!"

"And so will we, if what you said about the field is true. The trench is a temporary base, nothing more. If we can't get out or reclaim the camp then what will we do? Wait here until we run out of ammunition or supplies?" Shirou said, frowning at the Enforcer. Of course, that wasn't all. He had a bad feeling about this whole thing; had been having for a while now.

The Enforcer struggled for words and Shirou turned to continue walking as none seemed to be forthcoming. If Shirou was right, then they were right now on a very limited time table. The stagnation and thickness of the air, along with the news of the bounded field being turned against them boded ill.

He took a sideways glance at the civilian containment field and noticed that the sparks and distortions he had noticed before had increased in both amplitude and frequency. He stopped in his tracks, not even five steps away from the others yet. He swallowed nervously as he noted the field and looked at the still people sitting inside. Young, old, women and men, all asleep. Or as good as, anyhow.

He thought back to what he knew about bounded fields.

" _The most basic design of a bounded field can generally be constructed in one of three ways;_ " He remembered, the voice of the lecturer from his early days in the Clocktower droned in his head. " _One is to power the field oneself, using one's internal reserves of magical power. These are quite limited in size as well as potency due to human limitations, but generally offer a great deal of benefits when it comes to ease of deployment, immediate design and use._ "

Shirou doubted that either of the bounded fields here were of that sort, simply because they had been constructed to last even without anyone directly overseeing them. Seeing as how they had left the secondary personnel in charge of the camp, Shirou believed that it did not make sense for this design to have been used.

" _The second is quite similar to the first, but is an improvement at the cost of a greater resource drain. Through the use of a secondary source of magical energy, it is possible to devote oneself fully to the creation and design of the field during casting, thus allowing it to be far more complex and effective. As one can simply allow a Mana Generator or a familiar to power it, it can be left alone without worry of it collapsing even after extended periods of absence. Of course, this type tends to be highly costly. Mana Generators are in high demand even here in the Clocktower and few other institutions have the ability to field them. There are other methods of acquiring power as well, but those will be discussed in other, more detailed and in-depth lessons._ "

Given that they deteriorated with use but could be stored and kept as back up relatively safely, Shirou had felt quite certain that there must be at least one Mana Generator in the camp and the freelancers had confirmed his suspicions. But, it wouldn't be the primary power source for the barrier, he reasoned. Simply because it was an expensive piece of equipment and there were other ways of doing it.

" _The third is the most cost effective, but is also the most challenging of options. It requires one to meticulously research the location and the terrain before being put to use, as one must calculate the the output of the source as well as the needs of the field itself before one can even begin designing the field itself. I speak of course of the use of tapping into leylines. As a direct application of Mana, it comes with a variety of limitations and rules that do no apply to other forms of magical energy, as you all know, I'm sure. But for all these problems, it is the most stable, the most powerful and the most trustworthy of methods for managing bounded fields._ "

Hadn't he himself noted the irregular shape of the outer field? This made the most sense to him as far as design choices went. Surely the Clocktower had long since mapped out all the leylines in British soil? Thus making a simple design for a base of operations would be a matter of routine for the Clocktower. Hadn't he noted how far from the town the camp was when he had driven here? How tactically unsuitable the ground was and how unusually shaped the camp was? It only made sense if it was the best choice due to the presence of leylines.

But that would also have made it an easy job for _Hermit_ to predict where the Clocktower would lay camp as well, wouldn't it? If he wanted to take out the Clocktower faction before it even came to a confrontation, wouldn't the easiest way be to simply trap them?

But that wouldn't be all. No, that wasn't _Hermit's_ style. Shirou had sensed it when Arcueid Brunestud had been released. A wave of magical energy had exploded outwards the moment the hyper-stagnation trap had been destroyed. At first he had thought it was simply her own power, but he realized now it wasn't just that. He had sensed it _before_ they had noticed the field itself; the feeling of a vacuum of sorts in the air itself. Of a hole in the World itself.

Shirou turned on his heel and walked back to the freelancers, passing the Enforcer who was still tongue tied and grabbed him by the arm and dragged him back to the men.

"Hey. Does anyone here know how to handle _this_ bounded field?" Shirou asked, pointing at the field that held the civilians. The men looked at each other and then at him.

"Uh, yeah kinda. We had to round up people and throw them in."

"Sure, we had an Enforcer with us to handle the hypnosis and opening the field, but with him here it shouldn't be a problem. You do know how to work this thing, right?" Adrian realized he was the center of attention once more and flushed, before nodding as he stared down anyone who looked like they were laughing at him.

Shirou nodded at the two and looked thoughtfully inside the field. None of the civilians seemed to be suffering or appeared discomforted.

"If you're on the inside, can you come back out from there?" He asked the two and Adrian nodded after a moments hesitation.

"Okay, you guys should get inside the field, then. No point in staying outside if you can be inside behind cover, right?" Shirou asked, carefully controlling his expression. He didn't want to make them panic; even if they didn't understand what was happening around here they might read something off of his face and do something stupid.

They looked at him questioningly as he spoke but didn't seem to see any problem with that plan itself.

"It would be safer, but we can hold ground right here, so why?"

"Yeah, why?"

Shirou frowned trying to think of a reason why these men—who regardless of their low station in the Clocktower and their lacking training in magecraft—were experienced warriors, used to facing danger head on. Even if it usually was as meatshields. Despite having been experiencing terror moments before, the bloodlust and satisfaction of revenge from getting to return all that anger on the horrors had served to embolden them considerably.

"I think the horrors are up to something and so far they haven't even noticed the civilians. I think that if we can avoid wasting ammunition, then taking that stronghold there would be the smart thing to do. Especially if we are trapped in the camp." Shirou said and let out a sigh of relief on the inside as some of the men seemed to accept that. "Besides, if it does break, then our backs will be entirely vulnerable anyhow. You should start fortifying the inside, just in case."

They men debated it among themselves for a moment, but no one in particular was arguing for staying outside the bounded field. Realizing that they could simply go inside it, to be behind the cover of that nigh-impenetrable shield, seemed to bring a measure of confidence and security into all of them.

"Mallard-Feyn, you _can_ open up the field, right?"

"...I can." The Enforcer answered biting back an insult at the clear uncertainty in the eyes of the man asking the question. It seemed none of the others had a particularly good impression of him. He turned to Shirou with suspicious eyes, as if having some unspoken realization that he wasn't sure would be okay to voice out loud. Shirou met his eyes and turned to walk to the car, and for a second Shirou wasn't sure if the Enforcer would follow.

They stopped by the car as Shirou opened the door, taking out his cell phone and finding still one bar left on the battery. None on the signal though, as he had expected. It did really seem that they were entirely cut off from the world at large.

"So why do you want us in the containment field?" Adrian didn't beat around the bush, simply making sure no one else was nearby as Shirou had obviously wanted some privacy.

"Tell me, how good are you at sensing Mana?" Shirou began. The Enforcer didn't seem understand the non-sequitur and looked at Shirou with furrowed brows. But seeing as how Shirou offered no further explanation, Adrian realized he would have to try it for his answers. Frowning, the Enforcer closed his for a second before they shot open again.

"It's...there's more of it...? How?"

"...I thought as much. I can't really sense it all to well myself, but I have a general idea of what's going on." Shirou clicked his tongue. The Enforcer gave him a querying look, as he suddenly seemed very uncomfortable.

" _Hermit_ specializes in time magic, including a form of bounded field where he slows down time. I ran into one earlier, while still with Lord El-Melloi." Shirou began, once again managing to leave the Enforcer very much uncertain where Shirou was going with this. "Normally, Mana flows freely around the world. Leylines are simply spots where this flow is at its greatest, but even at those spots it rarely rises above a certain threshold.

"Storing magical energy in the air is pretty challenging after all. Once you start reaching a high enough amount it will want to naturally go somewhere else, rather similar to a gas that will want to escape high pressure to low pressure, or water that will seek to find the lowest point due to gravity.

"But within a bubble where time flows more slowly than outside of it, what will happen when Mana continuously flows in?" Shirou asked, a deathly serious look on his face that made the Enforcer swallow nervously. He shook his head at Shirou's question, not sure he wanted to hear this.

"It will pile up. The _flow in_ will exceed the _flow out_. So until the _pressure_ is high enough that it is _forced_ out from over-pressure, the amount of Mana around us will continue to rise." Shirou finished.

"And...what does that mean for us?"

"...Alien magical energy is like a poison to living beings. We will all die as the amount finally exceeds the... _pressure_ our own bodies can mount to resist that. It's the same basic principle as in Reinforcement.

"The horrors have already realized this, I think. They've stopped attacking and seem to be pulling back, trying to find some place to get away or something. The amount of magical energy we possess should reflect how much we can resist, so we need to get everyone inside the containment field and out of the way before we start dropping like flies as well. Hell, the containment field itself is probably designed to run off of the excess Mana from the outer field and its kicking up sparks from the overflow already." Shirou grimaced. The only reason the civilians hadn't started dying yet was because they were literally contained. Arcueid only survived because she was simply _that powerful_ , he suspected.

"...You have a plan?" The Enforcer asked, sounding more desperate than hopeful to Shirou.

Shirou could only grimace, offering a shrug. "Something like that. It's a work in progress... But you need to get everyone inside the containment field. Whatever the cost. Otherwise people will start dropping like the homunculus."

"The homunculus?" Adrian blinked, before frowning. The two looked each other in the eyes in a tense silence for several seconds.

Finally, the Enforcer nodded grimly. "Leave it to me."

He offered a hand to Shirou, who blinked as he looked at it curiously.

"...I didn't thank you, yet. For before. You really saved me there, after I panicked. So thanks for that, I owe you one." The man who had until now seemed to always be looking down on Shirou, gave him a small smile.

Shirou nodded and grabbed the hand, gripping it hard but not overly so as they shook hands. "Don't sweat it, I did get an excuse to sock you twice out of it."

The Enforcer grinned back and laughed lightly. "Don't think I've forgotten that."

Shirou huffed in amusement and shrugged, affecting defeat before the other. The light moment didn't last for long, however. They both became serious once more as the jovial air faded.

"I'll leave them to you." Shirou said and nodded at the man.

"Yeah, I'll get them inside. But you better not go and fuck up. If what you said is true, you're the only chance we've got right now. So don't you die before I can pay you back." Adrian said and nodded back.

Shirou smirked and turned to leave. He didn't know at what kind of rate time was being dilated inside the field, but he feared every second mattered. First he would have to get the Mana Generator and handle it, somehow. Either sabotaging it or simply removing it, he did not know for sure. After that, he would follow the containment field and make it to the edge of the field to get a closer look at the field itself. He had a plan, but he wasn't sure if he could pull it off.

Thus, Shirou could only bet his life on this hunch.

* * *

Shirou eyed the tent formation with vary eyes as he approached.

There was one tent that had caught his eye on the map as he had taken another look earlier. It lay in the exact center of the camp, where the leylines probably crossed and where he would have placed the back up generator. Assuming they would be under siege and someone was crazy enough to aim for the leylines in an effort to cut off the power, the safest place would be in the center of the bounded field.

The power required to damage a leyline enough to affect the bounded field would be more than sufficient to simply punch through most fields as well,after all. So to ensure that after the field was knocked down that it would be even possible to restore it, it only made sense to keep the Generator as well defended and far away from the action as possible.

Shirou carefully made it way towards the tents again. He hadn't bothered to bring the car, as it would only attract more attention to him. On his back, he could hear the Molotov Cocktails mutely _slushing_ about and the weight of them moving with him on his back with every step made him extra mindful about his step. He had gone to the effort of packing clothes between the bottles, both to keep them from breaking and to keep the sound they made at a minimum.

The rows of tents were deathly still and he frowned as he tried to spot anything that could have been lurking there in wait for him. Spotting nothing, he checked the pistol and the Molotov in his hand before stepping in. Vividly remembering the last time he had walked into this densely packet formation of canvas that only served to break ones line of vision, Shirou felt even less confident about entering now than he had before.

Still, he couldn't hesitate, lest everyone was put in danger.

Shirou stepped forward, again, again and again. His silent steps were all too loud in his own ears and his calm breathing sounded like the panting of a dog. Every sound made him tense up, but there was nothing there. Nothing was moving, nothing could be heard. Not even the rustle of wind on canvas could be heard; even the tents seemed to be being pushed down by the abundance of Mana in the air.

The only source of sound, was he himself. And that only served the make tense up more.

 _Enough_.

He swallowed and threw caution to the wind as he started walking at a brisker pace. He would have to bet on the horrors having gone dormant due to the barrier and face anything that did try to stop him head on.

The rows of lifeless tents seemed even more depressing than the last time, as Shirou made his way through them again. He saw nothing, heard nothing and ran into nothing. Only stains of blood and the smell of death lingered here.

Finding the tent in question took him less than a minute and upon entering it, Shirou could feel some sort of bounded field going off. He tensed for a second, but when nothing happened, he stepped back out—it went off again—and back in over the threshold—it went off a third time—and he let out a relieved sigh. It was a simple alarm, a magical doorbell or tripwire.

He looked around at the sparsely decorated tent. There were a few boxes lying around by the sides, a mechanical contraption that looked like an automaton to his amateur eyes and in the middle was a large suitcase with intricate brass fittings and lock. It did not radiate magical energy or anything, but to him it _seemed_ somehow like a Mana Generator.

There wasn't anything like a glowing magical circle around it either, nor were the helpful signs or tags for him to consult regarding the item, but somehow it seemed to be the only item in the room that had been deliberately placed. Nothing else was placed next to it, nor was anything placed so meticulously in relation to the tent itself.

Shirou blinked as he looked up, realizing that the suitcase and the tent itself were of similar dimensions and were placed roughly parallel to each other. Was the tent itself the "socket" where the Generator was plugged in when the outer barrier was in danger of collapsing?

He thought about opening the suitcase, but noting the lock thought better of trying. Considered simply smashing the thing, but then realized that could be a monumentally bad idea. Pondered simply taking it out of the tent, but then wondered if that would be enough.

Finally, he decided that he would simply haul it back to the trench and tell Adrian to break it if it turned on by itself all of a sudden. Wary of any traps, he touched it hesitantly. Realizing nothing happened, he shrugged and lifted it.

"Uff..." Shirou groaned. It was heavier than it looked. Maybe he should have brought the car after all. Then shook his head at all the whining he was doing. The tripwire alarm rang as he left the tent and he wondered if it signaled the removal somehow as well.

Still, carrying it seemed like a hassle.

"—trace _on_ ," Shirou spoke, after which he placed down the suitcase and letting out a relieved sigh.

He wasn't sure if it was proper for a magus to create a wheelbarrow of all things, but it was the simplest solution he could come up with on short notice. At least the suitcase didn't weigh so much once it had a wheel underneath it.

Shirou made it back in another minute once he had thrown caution to the wind and already he could feel himself positively beat compared to the earlier times he had made the trip. Was it simple exhaustion from all the running he had been doing or was it the ticking of the countdown, the overflow of Mana about to crush him that left him so tired?

He didn't want to think about that too much, so after grabbing a water bottle he moved to leave. They confirmed that the suitcase was in fact the Mana Generator and he told them to turn it off if it suddenly powered itself up. They didn't seem to understand, except for Adrian, but Shirou hoped they wouldn't hesitate if it came down to it.

It would be a waste if he managed to take down the bounded fields primary power source—the leylines—only to fail because the Mana Generator turned on by itself to pick up the slack.

Not inclined to waste time, Shirou did not stay to chat or even wait for them to open the containment field to take the Mana Generator. Instead, he turned to run alongside its edge to make his way toward the leylines running through the field.

There would be two, at least. But just one should be enough to destabilize the bounded field. Especially since it should be building up so much pressure.

Running was exhausting and his field of vision seemed to narrow with every breath he took, just a little bit more. He wasn't feeling light-headed, not exactly. It was more like he was breathing through a garden hose or there was someone constricting his throat, or sitting on his chest. The feeling of the air being somehow thicker made it painful to exert himself, but Shirou did not so much as slow down.

He arrived at the edge of the bounded field in less than two minutes. He hadn't even bothered with stealth, simply Reinforcing himself to the maximum and running past any horrors he saw on the way. Just as they had with the car, they had gotten up to follow and then had lain down after a few meters as if it was too much trouble to continue.

Perhaps they were going into hibernation or they were already dying? The homunculus had been quite ill already, even if he and the freelancers hadn't been that bothered yet. Perhaps they were simply all much more sensitive to things like that.

Finally reaching the edge, he slowed down again. The feeling of stagnation and pressure had increased and the temperature seemed unusually hot, given that it should have been a cold night.

The bounded field formed a hazy bubble, which Shirou realized emitted a soft light as he approached it. He couldn't judge what time it was outside, much less if someone else was there on the opposite side. He could only pray that it wasn't an extremely powerful stagnation field as had been placed on the White Princess.

The thought of breaking out, only to find that decades had passed did not particularly endear him. Moreover, he had a distinct feeling that the World would wreak havoc on them all with its corrective influence. The backlash from something like that would be extreme, to say the least.

The thought filled him with some hesitation, some doubts and more than a kernel of dread. Should he wait for outside help? Should he have brought with him someone else? Was he really the best suited person to handle this?

Casting aside his thoughts, Shirou stepped forward.

He used a stick to measure whether he could safely touch the field at first. Finding that it did not get "stuck" as it did from the outside, Shirou placed his hand onto the field and closed his eyes.

"—trace _on_ ," He extended his senses through his magical energy, cautious not to use too much and not to connect directly with the field despite his probing.

But, that distinct feeling of dread was also his greatest hope. Perhaps inside the second bounded field everyone else would survive, regardless of the strain that releasing the outer field would place on him. They could not stay inside anyhow, so it was a risk they had to take for even the slightest chance of survival.

Shirou couldn't sense the entirety of the field through his closed eyes, but by using his Structural Analysis to feel out he could roughly guess where the leylines were. Even as he could feel his resistance to the overflowing Mana weaken and his increasing discomfort, he did not relent.

He was indeed standing right on top of one of the greatest sources of Mana flowing in to the field. But it was muted, like it was coming through a filter or a valve which separated it from the true source somehow.

Even though he could not sense the leylines directly, he could feel where the bounded field was receiving its power from; spreading outwards from two points at 11 and 9 o'clock in his mental map of the camp. Ah, but this one was the weaker of the two. If he wanted to have maximal effect for minimal effort, he should target the other location.

He would have to run, he could already feel the mounting Mana against his skin, the stagnation having transformed into a tangible force pressing in on him from all sides. His lungs felt like he was breathing molasses, his throat felt like needles were being forced through it and his skin prickled as his legs pumped.

The hope Shirou felt, bloomed from the realization that they were indeed cut off from the World at this very moment. The homunculus had said that and his contact with the field allowed Shirou to confirm that. The only way that Arcueid Brunestud would not simply break out of the field she had been trapped in, was to make sure that she did not that realize it had occurred. Therefore it must have cut her off from the will and consciousness of the Planet, just enough that it could not tell her anything.

Which _also_ meant, that _he_ was cut off from the World right _now_. Free from its corrective influence that limited his abilities so.

Running did not help his condition. He wasn't completely sure, but he thought that it felt like that with every step he forced himself to take the Mana would invade his body further and further through his lungs.

There were ways to take over a bounded field, to cause it to short-circuit and to cause conditions that made it simply turn off by itself, but he was not that skillful. For him, there was only one way.

The only way to break free from the bounded field was to cause irreparable damage to the leylines outside. This field had originally been constructed to feed off of those and it was certainly much too large to be powered any other way, Shirou judged. Thus, if he could cut off that flow then it would have to collapse. It was not designed to store or use the Mana inside of itself as that was reserved for the second bounded field.

Shirou saw dozens of horrors on the way as he ran. They were huddled together and lifeless, wound around whatever they could find as if trying to weather out a great storm raging around them. Taking refuge wherever they could, Shirou almost felt pity for them.

He stopped, having arrived at the spot where he knew that the leyline had to be. His feet burned and his throat felt constricted and parched. His lungs felt as if they were balloons, stretched out to capacity _just_ short of bursting apart.

But of course there was a problem with his theory. To affect the leyline he would need to be outside of the field but to get outside he needed to first cut off that leyline. That catch-22 would have been vexing if he did not know a simple truth in the moonlit world; Greater Mysteries trump lesser Mysteries.

And _here_ and _now_ , freed from the corrective influence of the World he was certain that he had just the Mystery to cause irreparable damage to the leyline.

He eyed the spot and flipped the switch in his mind; the cocking hammer was pulled back with an inaudible _click_ that existed solely in perception of the world.

It was the moment of truth; do or die; succeed or fail; bring salvation to everyone who was depending on him right now or doom them all to a slow death in a place so far removed from the World.

"—trace _**on**_ **,** "

The sword was as clear in his mind's eye as ever; the blue hilt highlighted in gold script, the bejeweled pommel and the delicate flair of the quillon. The flawless blade, marked with fairy letters and keen enough to cut through stone and steel alike. It took him nearly a minute to get the image to the same level as he would have with any other mundane item in a matter of seconds, but he did not hurry it despite the pressure of the Mana mounting.

He had thought that perhaps the passing of the years would have erased it from his memory, but that fear was unfounded he realized as the weight of that nostalgic hilt began to settle in his hand.

Shirou smiled, satisfied that even if only once more, he could hold onto this blade and fight like he had alongside her, like he had all those years ago. He had gone through most of his od to create this sword; using it would leave him wholly spent. It would certainly ravage the leyline and would cause the field to destabilize; it was just that powerful. Something he would never even dream of holding on his own, a sword that had only answered his call from that dream-like past due to his pact with King Arthur.

Using it here would leave him completely spent, he knew.

Without his internal od to resist the overflowing Mana, he was certain that he would not last long. The others would survive inside the containment field until the outer field finally became unstable enough to fall, even if he himself would not make it.

Therefore, it was alright.

"Thank you for always lending me your strength, Saber." His words were barely above a whisper, the smile on his face gentle and his eyes staring at something far, far away.

"Cali—" Shirou raised the Golden Sword of the Victorious above his head, calling out its True Name as he brought down the Golden light of the holy sword like the hammer of a vengeful god upon the field. " **—BURN!** "

The golden motes of light blurred his vision and he felt his legs go underneath him as his strength vanished. All of his od was spent, he didn't even have enough left in him to project a butter knife, let alone another holy sword as his arms fell limply to his sides.

He fell to his knees, all the strength in him vanishing like morning dew at the rising of the sun.

So the realization that the sword had vanished from his grasp _before_ he had had the chance to call out its True Name fully to destroy the leyline gripped him in cold despair.

No. _No! NO_! _**NO!**_

He had failed.

* * *

Shirou did not know how long he lay there.

His vision had darkened and he could not hear anything. The ground beneath him did not feel real as his sense of touch swam and wavered. He felt like he was out at sea or falling through the air, like the earth itself was swallowing him whole and spitting him out at turns. He had no more strength; his od was spent and without the internal reserves to hold back the Mana his body was utterly unable to fight back.

He had failed. They would all die. Because he had _failed_.

Shirou saw things.

Memories, perhaps. Vision, possibly. Hallucinations, probably.

He saw his old man sitting on that moonlit porch once more, but he couldn't hear what his adoptive father was saying.

He saw Rin and Luvia, looking at him in silent disapproval and disappointment.

He saw Ilya lying on that hospital bed once more, motionless and cold.

Yet through all that, the golden sword remained on his mind as that illusionary weight refused to dissipate from his grasp. The golden sword was mocking him in his darkest hour; telling him, 'I'm right here' even as the truth of that matter was clearly in the opposite.

'Why had it failed?' He wanted to shout out, to rage and cry. He could not understand.

Ah, this was why his old man had told him to concentrate on Reinforcement, Shirou realized. Projection is a useless skill and he was better off simply using something that showed tangible results rather than a half-baked skill of his own devising.

His mind went back to the night after Berserker's defeat, as he had sat down with Tohsaka Rin.

" _I'll explain since you seem to be misunderstanding. What you did was a 'projection' magic.  
It's an incomplete magic that reproduces images of existing artwork or weapons using your own magical energy. It's usually used as a temporary substitute for ritual items. But it disappears quickly since it's made from an image, and it's naturally recognized as an 'imaginary object'._" She had explained and he could clearly remember her face as she eyed him like an interesting test subject.

He couldn't remember his own words, but he remembered what he had believed in. What he still clung to as his basis of Projection. Magical Energy did not change shape once molded, like clay that was then hardened to stay in shape. Or like... _molten steel_ poured into a mold and then cast into water as it was shot forth into reality...

" _That's not true…! Magical energy is something that can only exist inside you, right!? That's why we pass our magical energy into other things and use magical energy as a starter to affect nature! Sure, I can make something like a dagger by mixing magical energy like toffee. But that's it. It's just toffee that's shaped like a dagger, and it will disappear quickly since magical energy taken outside will vaporize._ " She had sighed at his frown, back then. He remembered her quirks as clear as day, the hazy darkness twisting and turning until it looked like his old guest bedroom where she had slept during those days...

 _"Listen. Things made of magical energy will not last long, and they're just shapes… Well, I guess the projection magic takes these things with only shape and make the ability close to the original's as well. What you must have done, was use the connection to Saber to make it so close to the original that for a moment, it passed for being the real._ "

Shirou tried to open his eyes, only to wonder whether they had even been closed in the first place. The effort made the memory dissipate like a reflection cast onto the surface of water being disturbed by a stone.

His body exhausted by the effort, his mind turned hazy once more. An indeterminable time passed, until his thoughts returned to his _failure_.

" _Gradation Air is the final and least common type of Material Transmutation. Named so, for you use your magical energy to create an object seemingly out of nothingness. Hence, 'air'. However, as the World does not suffer alien phantasms to exist, these creations are incredibly prone to be removed nigh immediately by the corrective influences; Degradation, see?"_ The shadowy, faceless figure of the lecturer whose name Shirou did not even remember anymore walked before him in the timeless darkness.

" _An incomplete and meaningless magecraft; you lot would do well to spend time on other, more worthwhile pursuits. There is nothing to be gained from focusing on this Mystery._ " The smirk and shake of head had made his fellow students laugh at the lecturer's words. Shirou had wondered then, if his presence in that institution had perhaps been a mistake, after all.

 _Ah_ , the Clocktower. He remembered and lamented. Perhaps... Perhaps if he had never left, he would have learned to use other magecrafts properly. Reinforcement, bounded fields, Runes... There must be something. Something that even _he_ could use. Perhaps he would have become an Enforcer and worked with others, here and now. Capable of saving everyone.

But Emiya Shirou had been a too headstrong, too simple-minded and too focused on what he thought he could do _then_ and _there_.

The lecturer's shadow disappeared like smoke in the wind as Shirou's focus waned from him. Time stretched on to infinity in this darkness of his consciousness. Or perhaps only a second had passed in this empty hell with nothing but the golden sword's ghost in his hand for company.

t _ing—_

A blooming sound flourishes before him. Cold and heavy, yet melodious as any bell.

No—not blooming. Booming. Sonorous as solid steel, heavy as a hammer on anvil. There was not an ounce of beauty in that armor, rustic and cold as the freezing night itself.

There was no way you _could_ call the sound blooming; it was nothing but the sound of steel armor ringing.

But, by the sheer beauty and grace of that knight before him, did that dissonance surpass the melody of a bell.

"...Sa—ber..." He weakly groaned, awed as always before that overwhelming figure.

She did not say anything, merely looked down upon him. Standing proudly. Straight. Radiant in this darkness that stretched to eternity. He couldn't bear her judgment, not from her whom he had been so proud to stand beside once.

But she spoke nothing. Finally, he had to look at her. There was no compassion or pity in those eyes. No disdain, no disappointment nor any derision to be seen in her gaze. There was only the proud expression that belonged to the King of Knights that he so admired.

That and a hint of...

 _Expectation?_

A shiver ran through Shirou. He tried to rise, to at least stand beside her once more if nothing more, but found no strength in himself. But he couldn't let himself lay there like a failure, not before _her_.

Why had _he_ failed? What had _he_ done wrong? When he had been by Saber's side, it had been easy to bring forth Caliburn. It had almost exploded out from within him, to once more serve its master. He had thought it due to the connection to Saber giving him enough of a boost to suppress the corrective impulse of the World.

But that was wrong. That was _wrong_! If it was the World that made it impossible, then he shouldn't have failed here. No, that wasn't the case. _He_ failed. _He_ made a mistake. _He_ was too inept, too unskilled and too weak to bring forth her sword.

 _Krhk_ —

He bit so hard that he almost broke teeth; anger and revulsion at himself flooding him with the first hint of power that he had felt for an unending period of nothingness. His hand barely moved but her forced it to obey his will, going for his coat pocket.

He was arrogant enough to think that bringing out a holy sword was as easy as shaping magical energy and replicating an image in his mind? What _hubris_! What _foolishness_!

His hand made its way back to his mouth, grasping something. He could not see, he could not hear, but he could still barely feel his hand grasping something and his dry mouth filled with the dirt and bitter failure of before.

To bring forth that sword, he had to put his entire body, mind and soul into it! He had to understand the whole of that blade, the perfection and beauty, the blood and the sweat that had stained it and the hopes and dreams that had been placed upon it!

His tongue felt the stone in his mouth, if barely. He guided it between his teeth and bit down. Hard. He put all his strength into that crunch.

It wasn't enough to simply imagine the shape, the size, the texture and the weight of it! How small-minded he had been to believe that was all that it took to create such a miracle!

— _Crack_

Fire flooded his mouth, but he bit down on the urge to cough and _swallowed_. He could feel the terrible burn enter his throat and slide down inside his guts. Time stretched on to infinity yet again as agony flood him, and he judged his entire life's work and found it wanting. He had only ever managed to project Caliburn because he had been standing beside Saber, not because he had had the skill to do so back then.

All that he knew about Projection, he _discarded_ in that moment.

He discarded his father's words, he discarded Rin's teachings and he discarded the lectures of that most hallowed magical organization. For him, it was all meaningless and useless.

Pain; unending and terrible coursed through him like rivers of molten steel. His muscles cramped and the stiffness forced him to curl up in cramps as waves of pure agony went through him. He ignored all that and focused on his breathing, his image and _concentrated_.

Start from the very beginning; work from the ground up; recreate it from the very origin and create a shadow, cast by the original itself!

The simplest form of meditation, the ritual that he knew as he knew the back of his hand cam to his mind. It would serve as his mold. Like a bow in his hand, like the target at a thousand feet, like the mountain sized arrow in his hand and like the terrible storm that would sling forth anything he let go of.

 ** _Ashibumi_ , placing the footing — Judging the concept of creation**

The basic foundation for everything in kyudo; how you stand. Where did you begin with creating a sword? It had to be the basic concept one had in mind even before one even drew a physical outline; the inspiration and soul of the sword.

 _Caliburn_ , The sword that chooses and shapes the King, "Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone is rightwise king of all England" was written on the hilt as only one who could rule Britain as a perfect king could wield it. The sword that was embedded into stone, awaiting the arrival of the King that would bring salvation to the doomed Isle of Britain.

 ** _Dozukuri_ , forming the body — Hypothesizing the basic structure**

Once the metaphysical and conceptual was decided, the external would have to mirror that internal design. The shape and construction, something that he had long sought to understand with Structural Analysis. He had to recreate it perfectly; shape that magical energy that wanted to dissipate and make it mirror that sword. Shirou forced himself to grasp that burning fire inside of himself. Forced himself to not lose to the external pressure of overwhelming Mana or the to internal ravaging of alien od, bringing it to heel under his grasp as it slowly began to shape itself into the familiar shape of a longsword.

 ** _Yugamae_ , readying the bow — Duplicating the composition material**

Once the plan had been created, one needed to collect the raw materials from which the weapon would be created. This sword was a symbol as much as a tool. A King during wartime needs no scepter, as their badge of office _must_ be the Sword. Steel, gold and jewels. War, riches and prestige. A ruler's riches, glory and authority; all culminated and focused into this single blade to speak of their kingship.

 ** _Uchiokoshi_ , raising the bow — Imitating the skill of its making**

The flaw had always lain in him. He was a third rate magus without anything to his name. No skills, no achievements, no proud badges or trophies, no victories or triumphs. How could he create something like this sword of legend when he was nothing?

However, he refused to accept that. He would pour his mind, body and soul all into this sword for it _deserved_ nothing less! His nothingness was only an advantage, he told himself. He isn't creating anything new, merely _voiding_ himself to make a forgery. As _he_ was nothing, the creator of the sword must have been the _original_.

 ** _Hikiwake_ , drawing apart — Sympathizing with the experience of its growth**

He admired her beyond words. He had seen her past in his dreams and had wanted to stand as proudly she had in those memories, to be someone she in turn could admire and rely on. He could still remember her proud gaze, her unwavering blade and her iron will.

 ** _Kai_ , the full draw — Reproducing the accumulated years**

He could still remember the touch of her palm over his hand as they stood together, holding that sword. The battles they had fought together; the battles she had fought alone; the battles he would face without her; he was aware of them all and how he would never see her again.

But now, for this one instant he would stand _beside her once again_ even if it was the last thing he did in this life!

 ** _Hanare_ , the release — Excelling every manufacturing process**

The gem in his gut burned like an inferno and he was sure that it would kill him, but _he didn't care_. He took all of it, the fire and that pain, the determination and that will and he poured it into the sword yet unreal and formless. He forced power into his limbs once more and ignored everything else aside from _the sword_.

Get up. Get _up_. Get _up!_ _Get up! GET UP!_ _ **GET! UP!**_

 _ **Zanshin**_ **— bind the illusion and make it a SWORD**

Fire rages through his veins and the cramping muscles turn his limbs to unyielding steel, but sheer determination forces the creaking body to obey as he rises, his arms held above his head grasping empty air—no, a golden sword alight with a burning fire!

"Golden Sword of the Victorious: **CALIBURN—!** "

Limbs of steel move and fire courses through his veins.

A great light; the crash and clash that would drown out even a thousand swords; the great winds that picks up up around him and tears at his body; the raging storm of magical energy that surpasses Emiya Shirou by a factor of a thousand!

All of that, and more he senses as he still feels the sword in his hand.

His knees lose strength for the second time, but this time he grins as he falls. The gaping hole in the veil of reality; the river of magical energy like a bursting damn flowing out from behind him; the glass-like shard slowly eroding and spreading as the bounded field is shattering beneath the power of his blow.

How can he not grin, knowing that he has succeeded?

For a moment he is certain that he can see Saber again. Her expression has not changed, except for that spark of her satisfaction in her eyes. As the darkness overtakes him—eyelids closing involuntarily as his exhaustion catches up with him—his expression is one of pure elation.

* * *

He didn't know how long he lay there simply panting pained breaths, but suddenly he could hear the sound of footsteps. The tall grass obscured his vision, but he could still hear just fine. His muscles ached, his circuits burned and his head was throbbing in beat with his heart.

The backlash wasn't all that bad, he decided. It only surged through him with the agony of biting down on a live wire and left him on the edge of unconsciousness. Definitely not as bad as it could have been. He hoped that everyone else was fine.

"Do you see anything?" A voice spoke. The wind—the blessed wind, carrying fresh and uplifting air like he hadn't sensed in hours, he suddenly realized—obscured and covered the voice too much for him to recognize.

"No... There's nothing here, except... Well for the obvious destruction. What was that light? How did it break the bounded field?" Shirou blinked and tried to groan out something, anything to catch these two's attention.

"..." The silence stretched for a moment and even Shirou, half-dazed could tell that the other wasn't answering despite knowing something. Of course _she_ would know, she had seen it before he remembered.

"You know, don't you?" The other voice accused the first.

"...I do, but—Shirou!" Rin shouted and he could hear her running suddenly. Something skidded right next to him and he was suddenly violently turned around. He spat out grass from his mouth and eyed Rin with something approaching annoyance at her rough handling of him.

"Hrngnghhh..." He tried to say something clever but barely managed to open his mouth. Rin was putting him back down, this time on his back and running her hands all over him. First aid, he hoped. Well, at least he could use her touch to say that most everything was still attached and had working nerve endings.

It wasn't unusual for magic like that to leave the user crippled for life, after all. Still, if it had saved everyone then it was worth it, he decided.

"Sherou!" Luvia appeared in his vision, looking just as shocked as Rin had been once she saw him.

"Does..." He began, sensation slowly returning to his body as Rin's hand glowed for a second. He wasn't sure what she did, but it brought back some clarity to his muddled wits. "...this count for kowtowing? I don't think I can do much better at the moment..."

The two froze, looked at each other and blinked for a tense moment before devolving into relieved laughter. Well, that was promising.

They laughed merrily for a good ten seconds and Shirou felt his awareness slowly returning more and more. His sense awoke as well, but his body remained stiff and unresponsive. Finally, Rin turned to look at him as she stopped her laughing.

"Oh, no, Emiya-kun. This will simply not do. You shall have to re-do it later." Rin smiled at him and he smiled back, though his was a lot more crooked and pained. "Along with explaining what made you think eating an explosive jewel was a good idea."

Luvia made a sound of horrified astonishment and Shirou tried to shrug. As Rin's expectant gaze gave him no outs, Shirou finally relented and answered.

"...Ran, out of magic. Made sense, at the time." He groaned and Rin snorted at him, but at the same time made to sit down and use her lap as a pillow for him. Usually Shirou would object to this kind of treatment, saying that as a girl she should make sure not to cause misunderstandings by doing this to strangers. But she _was_ healing him right now and it did feel quite nice.

"Of course it did, you big fool. You're lucky it was such a weak jewel." She smiled down at him and he could see Luvia twitch in his peripheral vision. From the glint in Rin's eyes he knew that barb had been on purpose. Not that it made him feel any better, as she still looked at him like a cat that held a mouse underneath its paw and was deliberating on what it _should do with that mouse_. He tried not to squirm for the sake of his pride as a man. Not much, anyhow. "You also managed to use it all immediately, before it could affect your body too much. Not bad, your usual idiocy considered. Then again, you should have blown your arms off trying to use that sword, all things considered.

"And I'm sure blowing a hole in the bounded field and forcing the Clocktower to re-draw 600 year old leyline maps _also_ 'made sense at the time'." At that, her smile turned slightly less _amused_.

He shrugged, grinning weakly. Looking around, he realized that _Caliburn_ had vanished again. But this time he knew he could have held onto it if he hadn't lost consciousness. His grin grew a little wider at that thought.

"W-wait! You are saying that _Sherou_ did... did _this_!" The blonde gesticulated wildly at something he couldn't see, due to the high grass. He could roughly guess though; Noble Phantasms were the big guns, after all. "That is... That is impossible."

Luvia suddenly looked at him like she had never seen him before. He gave her a weak wave and smile, feeling like an animal being observed at a zoo.

"Hmph—! I thought you said you couldn't use that sword anymore." Rin pinched his cheek with her other hand. "I would have put you to better use if I knew you weren't completely useless, Shirou."

He laughed weakly at that.

"No, I was pretty useless before. I just realized I'd been doing everything wrong up until now." He smiled apologetically. Shirou could already feel his legs responding somewhat to his will, which was promising. "But what are you two doing here? I thought you left with Lord El-Melloi?"

"We did. But then it turned out that he didn't have everything quite as figured out as he thought he had. So we left. You see, I had an _idea_." Rin spoke, grinning wickedly. No doubt taking extreme pleasure in being able to outwit everyone once again.

"Indeed she did, but for that we needed the Mana Generator, and well..." Luvia sighed and shook her head, letting go of whatever she had been getting flummoxed about previously. "Also, keeping everyone from dying seemed like something that could be useful for squeezing out a favor or a dozen, later on."

Luvia's grin made Shirou grin back. There was something to be said about her kind of mercenary kindness. Luvia—and Rin as well, he supposed—would keep you alive, if only to work you to your bone. All while smiling and making you feel bad for complaining.

"Ah. Makes sense. Time field was sort of in the way of that, I guess." He snorted, finally sitting up. Rin made to protest, but he motioned at his lower back with his hand that felt like it could use some of her healing touch. "I think it's the worst _here_..."

She frowned at him and continued to work on his back, the waves of whatever she was doing almost making him sigh in pleasure. Though, the knowledge that she would be squeezing him for all he was worth for this healing did sort of dampen that sigh.

"How much time has passed?" He asked; it hadn't felt like more than a few hours on the inside.

"Well, see for yourself." Luvia motioned to the east, where the first rays of the sun were rising. "A field of that size couldn't be too powerful. It was mostly just to contain everyone, I suspect."

"Huh. Weird, I wouldn't have thought that much Mana could have piled up in just one night." Shirou spoke, scratching his jaw. The two magi were silent at that and looked at him questioningly. "Ah, well. I mean, as time flows slower, Mana flowing in would be trapped and build up. I had to break everyone out before they died."

The two magi gave each other a look, the looked at Shirou again with blank faces. Then they both burst into laughter again.

Shirou frowned at the two, but didn't interrupt them. Even as Rin stopped healing him and slapped him on the back in her gales of laughter, Shirou only frowned at them.

"Oh, _oh_ Sherou. You are so wrong yet so right at the same time, that I simply do not know what to do with you." Luvia calmed down first, wiping a tear from her eye. She looked backwards, at whatever it was that had first perturbed her and then at him again. "No, no. The amount of ambient Mana required to kill someone would be so staggeringly high that this field wouldn't have been able to do that even in a week."

"Emiya-kun, just as I start to think you're quite impressive you make such a simple mistake." Rin slapped him on the back as she sat next to him, grinning at him as he frowned.

"What do you mean? Am I wrong? I mean, the second bounded field was overflowing on the ambient Mana and the homunculus was getting sick from the magical energy, so..." He tried to explain but the two waved him off.

"No, you weren't wrong about what was going on, but you made a simple error. You understand that Mana comes from somewhere, yes? Well, the amount that the leylines provide simply isn't enough for that to happen. Even if the field were as strong as the one that held Arcueid, the _supply_ could not keep up with the _demand_." Rin explained, closing her eyes and crossing one arm under the other as she raised her finger like a pointing stick to emphasize her words.

"...Oh, but. But I felt something and the homunculus was having trouble with too much magical energy..." Shirou tried to explain, suddenly feeling very insecure about his previous actions.

"Oh no, Sherou. You did the right thing, do not doubt that. You simply misunderstood the cause. As low as the 'supply'—as Miss Tohsaka so vulgarly put it—for Mana is, it is not the only the thing that you need to worry about. The wind, for example." Luvia continued the explanation, crossing her arms and mirroring Rin's stance unconsciously.

"...It was just over-pressure? Huh... That, that does make some sense." Shirou nodded as he thought about it. Even if the human body could handle the pressure, breathing became complicated and difficult. Perhaps the water demons likened the pressure to something in their original world and thus hid. But that would also mean that placing everyone in the containment field was probably meaningless. Huh.

"Any homunculi would no doubt be much more sensitive to the Mana and the World, so you should not compare yourself to them. You simply managed to give yourself altitude sickness, having gotten used to the pressure before you, _ah_ , 'burst the bubble'. Quite a splendid Reinforcement, but you forgot to adjust to the lowered pressure after you blew apart the bounded field. You dummy." Rin smacked him on the head, smirking at him. Shirou could only drop his head shamefully, acknowledging that he had completely ignored the obvious cause there. Then again, he didn't exactly have the magical energy to adjust anyhow, so perhaps it did not matter all that much.

"So like a third-rate magus, to simply look at the Mana instead of considering _all_ possible factors on the table." Luvia said as well, though Shirou felt that perhaps she wasn't aiming it at him as much as someone else.

"Still, good job Shirou. As expected of my apprentice, no matter how short lived that relationship was." Rin smiled at him and Shirou felt a blush coming despite being an adult man. It had been quite a while since someone had honestly complimented him.

"Ah, enough of this. Weren't you looking for something?" Shirou hastily avoided eye-contact as he tried to change topic.

"That's right." Luvia realized. "Will you be needing much more time? I shall go and acquire the Mana Generator if there's nothing else."

"Wait, I moved it." Shirou cut in before she could leave. Luvia looked at him curiously.

"Ah, you thought it was powering the bounded field?" Rin ventured and Shirou nodded. "So where is it? Please do not tell me you broke it."

"Give me some credit." Shirou shook his head. "I left it with the rest of the survivors, by the townspeople."

"Survivors?" Luvia looked at him blankly. "What do you mean? 'Survivors' differing from the survivors from the town? People died here?"

Shirou felt confused, realizing that they weren't quite on the same page right now.

"Yeah." He started uncertainly and the two magi gave each other worried glances. "The camp was attacked by horrors; most were taken unawares but some made it. They made a base by the second bounded field, where the townspeople were still held in captivity."

"...That bastard." Luvia frowned as she spoke.

"Well, it does seem quite efficient. Everyone dies, their magical energy is trapped along with the Mana of the leylines and he removes the Clocktower's base of operations and support personnel in one move..." Rin agreed, grinding her teeth.

"Ah, shit." Shirou suddenly realized that he had entirely forgotten about the horrors. "They went dormant as the Mana concentration rose—or the air pressure, I don't know—either way they still stopped moving.

"With the bounded field down, they're bound to wake up soon. If you want to make it to the Mana Generator before they all swarm you, we should hurry." He finished, forcing himself onto his feet again. He felt so ill that his head spun and his stomach churned, he felt tired right down to the marrow of his bones, beat to hell so badly that he must be black and blue all over...

But despite that he still felt perfectly fine to keep going.

"Shirou..." Rin began.

"Let's go." He didn't let her finish. "We need to avoid the trees at least."

Quietly behind him, the two magi shared a look and followed him.

The first 50 steps were tiring, but once his body realized that he wasn't going to stop moving it threw in the towel with the complaints and his gait smoothed out as his pace picked up. Behind him, Shirou could hear the two whispering something but he didn't think he ought to eavesdrop so he was content with ignoring it.

After all, he was busy looking for any horrors. He hadn't seen any, neither active ones nor any of the dormant ones he had passed by earlier. He was retracing his earlier steps, yet none of the quivering horrors were to be seen. Shirou felt his nerves tighten and his eyes scanned every tree and every patch of grass. Every sound wound him further and further up as he felt a coil of worry in his gut.

Where did all the horrors go? Surely they hadn't made it to the survivors. At least, Shirou couldn't hear any sounds of fighting which meant that... It didn't mean anything. He could have been out for hours and all resistance could have been quelled already, if the horrors made it to the survivors.

He ground his teeth and picked up the pace. He still had scraps of magical energy; bare fumes in his tank; enough to Reinforce himself just enough to keep moving at an _acceptable_ pace. He was sure that if it weren't for the terrain, the two magi following could have easily made it already there without him.

As they drew nearer, Shirou began to hear sounds. Gnashing, whistling, clicking and scraping. Familiar sounds of horrors. By the sudden silence behind him, Shirou knew that the two magi had heard it as well.

Slowing down, he came to a crouch by the last cover before the open field that surrounded the containment field. Shirou frowned as he peered out.

The scene before him made his stomach churn at the same time as it made a wave of relief pass through him.

Horrors, by the hundred, were clawing at the bounded field like one great wave of claws and teeth but were unable to pass through. Shirou couldn't see inside, but he knew that it wouldn't be good. Hopefully they were still alive. The fumes the horrors emitted was bad and the field did let air pass unobstructed if he was correct. Add to that the image of a horde of horrors trying to claw their way in and anyone would lose their minds there.

"Well... This is certainly something." Rin began, settling next to him and keeping an eye on the countless horrors all raging about. Some were turning on each other and as soon as one was wounded, others would jump on it in an instant to tear it into pieces and devour all they could before they were pushed aside by another horror looking for a bite.

He didn't think that they could wait for them to eat each other down to more manageable numbers, however. The fumes would kill the people inside even if the horrors didn't.

"...Sherou, did you say that the Mana Generator is there, earlier?" Luvia asked, sounding somewhat resigned. At his nod, she sighed explosively and deflated.

"I don't think there were this many before... Could they have been breeding?" Shirou asked, trying to think back to their behavior recently. They has been devouring killed humans and one of the ones he had encountered had been quite weak. "...it might be possible that the younger horrors are weaker. I ran into a weak one a few hours ago. Or I think it was a few hours ago..."

He shrugged and Luvia sighed again before looking at the mass of tentacles and teeth.

"...It doesn't matter how weak they might be individually, there's simply too many of them to deal with easily." Luvia said, biting on the nail of her thumb as she kept looking at the bounded field.

"Rin, what about that invisibility thing you did earlier, in the cafe? Could we somehow distract and sneak past them?" Shirou suddenly asked, but Rin shook her head.

"It's a stationary bounded field and it still won't let us get inside the barrier itself." She explained, aquamarine eyes roving over the surrounding area. "But if we could pull them away into a trap, we could use that to hide from them nearby."

"...Right, I could get to the car and pull some of them with me. Don't know how many would follow, but there is something to be said about defeating in detail. If we pull away ten or twenty at a time, it should be doable." Shirou wasn't quite so sure about being able to get to the car, but it was an idea.

"That will take too long. While we are ahead of the schedule thanks to Sherou breaking us into the bounded field—whatever it was that he did, and I will be asking questions later do not doubt that—we cannot waste time and resources with these monsters." Luvia objected. "But... If we could capture them and simply use one large spell to take them out or trap them, perhaps it could work..."

The Finnish blonde seemed to sink into her own thoughts as she held a hand to her chin.

Shirou suddenly remembered something and felt at his waist. It was still there; though it had fallen out of his ear, the cord was still inside his jacket. Placing it back in his ear, Shirou tried the radio.

"Trench, come in." He spoke as loudly as he dared, getting confused looks from both of the magi. "Trench, come in."

"Shirou, what—"

" _This is trench, holy shit you're still alive!_ " The radio buzzed to life and Shirou lifted a hand to silence Rin. She looked slightly put out to be told to shut up as he lifted his other hand to his ear.

"Sure am. You guys seem to be in a bit of a pinch, though." Shirou injected some levity into his tone, seeing as how the voice sounded more than a little desperate.

" _Ahaha, you don't say. We were kinda hoping you could do something about that. We're not doing too hot here._ "

"Right." Shirou frowned and ignored the knot of worry in his gut. "Any casualties? What kind of weaponry do you have and how long do you think the bounded field will hold?"

" _No real casualties, doing our best to keep people from breathing that funky stuff but we're running dry soon of air. Or so it feels, anyhow. Ammunition and explosives is plentiful, you made sure of that. But it's not really helping us at the moment cause of the field. Which I have no idea about; could be an hour could be five seconds. Once it comes down though, we're so fucked even I'll be blushing like a maiden on her first night._ " Shirou almost snorted at that mental image, but kept it in.

"Right, gonna consult some people on this end, hold on for a moment." Shirou said, lowering his hand as he turned to look at Luvia. "They've got some explosives ordinance inside, but nothing that I think would take down the horrors for good."

He turned to Rin and continued talking. "Do either of you have any idea how much the bounded field can still take?"

"Hard to say. It seems fine." Rin said, shrugging and Luvia did not offer anything. "But Shirou, you don't have anything to do with this. Why are you even here?"

Rin's words made him freeze up as he looked at her in confusion.

"We're not here to save the civilians, we just want the Mana Generator." She looked him straight in the eye, piercing right through him with her words. "Moreover, you're not working for that guy anymore. So there's no point in—"

He scoffed at her, interrupting her little speech.

"You need the Mana Generator and to get it you need to clear the horrors. You're not opposed to saving those people. I know you—both of you—that well, at least. I just want to keep everyone in there safe and don't mind putting myself at risk." He broke eye-contact and looked at the field. "Your words don't quite match up with your facade of a calculating magus, Rin. Just use whatever you have to get what you need, there's no need to worry about me."

"Oh..?" Shirou was suddenly yanked by his jacket and pulled face to face with Rin, whose eyes seemed to be ablaze with anger. "So says the man with one foot in the grave and no magical energy. Without any weapons, you're useless so what exactly do you think you have to offer to us here?"

"Hah. If I was so useless, why did you heal me?" He smirked at her. "But, I'm still 75 per cent good to go. I can keep going and you need all the help you can get. Or did you simply heal me out of the goodness of your heart, Miss Tohsaka?"

She said nothing, but her eyes were storms of anger. But Shirou did not flinch as she tried to think of something to say. They stared at each other silently for a long while, as the tension mounted.

Finally, she let him go with a mask of stony apathy.

" _Fine_. Luvia, you have a plan?"

"Ah- Eh, well yes. But..." The blonde seemed quite off balance by the sudden conflict between the two Japanese magi.

"Well? Incidentally, we already have a _volunteer_ for the most dangerous part, whatever it may be." Rin spat out the words with such anger that even her rival seemed nonplussed.

"Ah, that is..." Luvia looked to Shirou for help, seeming quite ill at ease at the prospect of dealing with a truly angry Tohsaka for once. Shirou shrugged, affecting polite helplessness. With a cough, glancing at the horrors once more, she continued. "We make a series of simple snares and then draw these _horrors_ in and trap them. There is no reason for us to actually waste time and defeat them, as long as they can be contained."

"...Right. How will we draw them away? And where would such traps be located? It would take too long to make a large bounded field from scratch and we don't have any resources to use beyond a few gems." Rin said, eyeing Luvia with crossed arms and a frown.

"—trace _on_ ,"

The map of the camp appeared in Shirou's hand, surprising the two. The spell left him panting and seeing double, but he ignored it as he controlled his breathing and affected casual ease with the spell. Whatever he had regained in his reserves had been burnt away in that one projection, regardless of how mundane and easy it was.

Shirou grit his teeth and showed the map, using his finger to illustrate.

"I recommend using the tents. It's even ground and there's plenty of opportunities to catch several of the horrors there. I was thinking we could burn them if we trapped them for a few minutes there." Shirou spoke, showing the clear route that would allow them to herd as many horrors as possible. "But we still need some way of getting as many as possible of them to follow. I'm not sure if just running up to them will be enough. Maybe if I get the car like I said, but..."

"I believe that I could create an... incentivizer, for them to follow." Luvia nodded as she suggested. "A simple simulacrum of the presence several dozen panicking humans would exert. These creatures seem like the type to rush after the first whiff of prey, after all."

"That could work, but it would have to be on delay for me to get into the car. I don't think I can outrun the would group." Shirou said, nodding. "Do you have anything that could hold them in place or slow them down? With the Molotovs I still have, getting the whole tent formation to go up in flames won't be too difficult. Especially if we drain the cars of gasoline and set up a proper trap."

"Hmm, seems workable. Even if we have a few stragglers, as long as they're not scattered around too much we can simply rinse and repeat for mopping up. As long as it doesn't take more than an hour, it should be fine. What do you think, Miss Tohsaka?" Luvia spoke, holding her hand to her jaw in a thoughtful pose.

"...It could work." Rin gave him a calculating glance, but Shirou felt it was overly theatrical. Rin would have made up her mind already, all of this thoughtfulness she was affecting would be purely for his sake. Or, perhaps she was reinforcing her "magus" persona by acting it up. "I will place my bounded field right _here_. It will be up to you to get there and shake off any of the pursuit within the tents if you wish to survive."

She had pointed at a spot on the map, which wasn't entirely favorable tactically but lay on top of a leyline that was running through the camp. It would give her juice to work with, so it couldn't be helped. He could have pointed out that she didn't need to give him a safe-zone once the horrors were lured in, but since Rin seemed mad already he refrained from opening his mouth.

"Yeah, you could leave a cache there in case some stragglers try to run off. Force them into the tents, for example." Shirou nodded, affecting serious consideration. "How long will it take? I'll keep watch here and you can send me a signal once you're done. Something like a flare would work."

Luvia considered that before nodding. "Alright; green for 'the plan is go' and red for regrouping with us, for whatever reason."

That was simple enough, Shirou nodded and Luvia handed him a jewel with the instructions not to break it until he wanted to monopolize all of the horrors attention. In return he had handed them the backpack filled with Molotovs, only taking a few and placing them in his jacket pockets. It would only slow him down to lug them all around, he suspected.

Luvia had seemed somewhat dissatisfied with the exchange; handing valuable gems and being told to carry his bag in return.

"If you eat this one, I will be charging you for it. Edelfelt-style _cuisine_ does not come cheap, after all." Had been her parting words accompanied with a smirk and Shirou nodded, making sure not to let his amusement show.

As the two magi left, he wondered whether they were mad at him for removing the Mana Generator and making their jobs harder, or if they were relieved to have an excuse to save those people. A bit of both, he decided with a chuckle as the two gave him one last glance before leaving.

Now, he only needed to figure out how to get those horrors attention without getting himself killed in the process.

* * *

It had already been 20 minutes since Rin and Luvia had left.

Shirou had informed the others over the radio that there was a plan underway to handle the situation and had asked about the Mana Generator, the civilians, the homunculus and Adrian. Mostly out of curiosity and sense of needing to cover all of his bases in case he missed something—like the Mana Generator having been moved somewhere else, or the like—but partly also to pass the time and relieve his nerves.

Nothing much had changed, though the homunculus—apparently called Relioavrious, or something like that—had recovered most of his vitality once the bounded field had been taken down. Shirou couldn't have been lying down for much longer than 10 minutes after he had fallen, judging by the freelancers description of events.

He had been controlling his breathing, taking longer and deeper breaths so as to recover as much strength as possible. To recover physically as well as to replenish his od, breathing properly was key.

Of course, given that he had to pay attention to both the horrors and the sky to the east for the signal, he couldn't exactly get too deeply entranced. Still, despite his breathing technique and mediation he still felt quite nervous about getting to the car. While the horrors were still going mad over all the people inside the bounded field and few were paying attention to what was going on behind them, the car was far too close to them for his comfort.

He had thought about running, but discarded that as he observed the horrors running about and around the field. For one, they would not be hampered by the terrain as much as he was. He could outrun them on pavement or flat ground, but here with the high grass he would simply be begging to have his leg broken if he tried to run like that.

In the car it would be painful and bumpy, but at least he would survive it.

And given how widely around the field all the horrors were spread, if he wanted to pull in as many as possible he could not simply run off the moment the first horror spotted him. In the car he could rev up the engine as he broke the gem, getting as many of the horrors' attention on him as possible before taking off.

Of course, given that the Reinforcement would already be mostly gone...

He wasn't feeling all too confident about this plan, despite having been the one to push for it. The time for hesitations and regrets was long past, however. If there was something he could be proud of about himself, it was his resolve.

Once he has decided to do something, he simply will not back down. Just as the arrow has already pierced the target before it is loosed, so too will Emiya Shirou succeed without fail.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he takes another look to the sky. But nothing.

Shirou wished he had some food as his stomach made a sound. He hadn't eaten anything proper since breakfast and the water he had drank had only helped with his thirst. Maintaining your physical ability was key on the battlefield, but this one had been more hectic than even he was used to. Hopefully, he would get a chance to recharge and recover properly shortly.

Finally, after a time that felt like it had stretched on much like the time altering bounded fields, Shirou spotted the green burst of light to the east.

It was time to go.

He got up and slowly began to make his way forward. Not attempting to crouch and move overly cautiously, but neither hurrying and trying to simply get to the car as quickly as possible.

Simply taking one step after another, while clearing his mind and walking forward. His hand slipped into his pocket and found the keys, right next to the jewel that Luvia had given him. The horde of monsters did not notice him approaching, too intent on the humans inside the barrier. The racket they made themselves covered any sound his walking could have made as well and he was walking into a diagonal headwind.

Line of sight, sound and sense of smell. All should be to his advantage. All that remained was a sense of presence—which Luvia's words about the function of the jewel supported—which he could only try and suppress by clearing his mind, and pure chance. If the wind changed, if one of the horrors spotted him or if he made some mistake by pure luck, then that would be the end of this entire attempt.

Twenty meters remained to the car. At this point, it was too far away to back off. If he was spotted right now he would not be able to make it to the car. And he would no doubt be swarmed and torn apart before he could make it even to fifty meters, were he to try and run away in the opposite direction.

But Shirou kept his mind blank, as still and clear as the pure water in a pond, reflecting only the surroundings but disturbing it none at all itself.

Fifteen meters. A horror was torn down by accident and a dozen swarmed it, devouring its flesh and scattering its blood all over the grass in a flurry of motion and alien sounds. Shirou did not pay any attention to it.

Ten meters. One of the horrors noticed him, stilling unnaturally as if unsure what it was looking at. Perhaps it hadn't seen humans outside of the barrier and wasn't sure what it was really seeing. But its instincts were strong and Shirou could see that it was tensing up to pounce. Just a few more steps...

Suddenly as if unable to hold back any longer, the horror pounced with a whistling cry of excitement. Shirou's perception of time slowed as he took a deeper breath, breaking the calming breathing technique he had been using.

Five meters remained to the car. It would have to be enough.

Shirou's hand shot into his jacket pocket and his fingers found the two glass necks that he wanted. Once, twice his hand swung out. Releasing the bottles in arcs that looked to be in slow motion to his senses.

His other hand had already rested on the handle of his pistol. The horror came flying at him, crashing headfirst into the first bottle and shattering it in a clatter of glass. The second bottle was still in the air, only a few meters away from where he wanted it to be.

The pistol came out, the safety clicking under his finger and the trigger pressing beneath his pull almost before he had even taken a bead on the horror.

 _Bang—! Bang—!_

Two shots erupted and time burst back into the regular flow, as if a dam that had broken beneath the immense pressure of endless water. Side-stepping, he holstered the gun and crouched to avoid the writhing and flaming horror that sailed past him.

If the whistling of the horror hadn't caught the hordes attention, then the gunfire, explosion of flames and the pained screeching certainly would have. There was a moment of pure stillness, as Shirou remained crouched.

The horde of creatures, birthed from the deepest darkness and foulest reaches, stared him down. And he stared back.

The second bottle that he had shot in mid-air had shattered and caught fire, causing a curtain of fire to descend upon the earth behind the car. Horrors panicked and Shirou shot forth, using the crouch as a sprinter's starting position as he shot forth the last few meters.

Had he tried to run normally from here, the horrors would have overrun him by the time he made it to the car, but with the wall of flames dividing him and the car from the horrors and the bounded field, they hesitated just long enough for him to get inside.

And not a moment too late, as the car was rocked by a heavy impact from behind. Shirou had barely enough time to look behind him to see the shadow slipping away, before the sound moved onto the roof of the car.

The thin metal of the car roof bent beneath the horror's weight and Shirou suddenly felt a whole lot let secure in the car; the Reinforcement was already mostly gone.

Another three sounds of impact rocked the car before he had finally managed to insert the key into the ignition. He looked up just in time to see a horror plastered against the windshield, pressing its mouth and teeth against the glass. It was almost humorous, like a child blowing their cheeks against a window, if it weren't for the obvious hostility and bloodlust that the horror emitted.

The engine roared to life and Shirou almost passed out in relief as another five horrors came to rock the car. He swallowed, suppressing his fear as much as his bladder as he numerous monsters rocked the car, shaking it and trying to claw their way in. The metal creaked and buckled, the glass which luckily held the Reinforcement better—perhaps due to the similarity to jewels in structure and the tow gem magis experience with putting magical energy into such items, his mind supplied almost as an aside as his body was on the threshold of pure panic—but it still barely held.

Every surface was covered in horrors and Shirou couldn't so much as see the outside, couldn't hear anything outside other than the raging horrors trying to devour him. The only light in this darkness was the dashboard, the only sounds beyond the cacophony of teeth was the roaring of the engine.

Flooring the gas pedal and turning the wheel, the car pushed forward but couldn't pick up speed due to the numerous horrors weighing him down. Several screeched as they were pulled beneath the car, driven over or thrown aside by other horrors.

If it continued like this then he stood no chance of making it out alive from this car, much less making it all the way to the camp.

Meter by meter, the car trudged forward and Shirou cursed that the Lord hadn't procured a proper 4-wheel drive vehicle. Finally, the sudden screeches and lightening of the car signaled his hope. Suddenly, there was light again!

Shirou grinned, the roaring of the engines and the curtain of flames lighting the hope in heart like a surging storm!

He had turned to drive through the curtain of flames that he had made with the second bottle, from the start. The horrors, hateful and fearful of the fire jumped clear of it well before it could lick them. The only thing that had saved him from being piled beneath the wave of monsters was his foresight. Not sneaking beneath their notice, not sprinting in before they could hope to stop him, but calm and measured steps and preparation was how he could make it forward.

Releasing the gas as the car went through the wall of flames, kicking in the clutch, changing in the second gear as he pulled out the jewel with one hand as the other turned the wheel like a madman. Flooring the gas, he threw the jewel into the dashboard and pulled his gun. With a rising roar, like a bear that had been woken from hibernation and rose to battle, the car skidded around and drew a perfect circle in the grass. Kicking and throwing up dirt and plants alike, he corrected the wheel as he now faced the direction he needed to drive to.

The horrors hadn't yet made it to him, suddenly all too weary about jumping this madman who would run through fire itself to shake them off. That would not do, Shirou grinned as he spotted the jewel in the crook of the dashboard where it had slid after being thrown.

His gun came smashing down like a hammer, the metal magazine butt just as hard, and the weight behind his hand cracked the jewel effortlessly. For a second Shirou wanted to sputter, as if he had inhaled a mouthful of some perfume or deodorant spray.

The next, the rising screeching next to him made him realized that needed to _get the hell out of dodge_ , right the hell _now_.

Pushing pedal to the metal, changing gears as the revolutions of the engine permitted and as the ground gave traction, the car shot off like a rocket. The wave of horrors hot on his tracks, like a shadow following the body and just as stubbornly sticking to him.

Shirou chanced a look through the rear-view mirror before he let out a nervous titter of laughter. It really looked like an endless wave of darkness was coming to swallow him up whole. Horrors, from side to side as widely as the mirror showed him, all racing to catch up.

Perhaps this hadn't been the best of ideas after all. Well, no. He'd known that from the start, but the fact that he still had gone through with him made him feel like there must be something strange with him after all. Shaking his head, grinning like a madman, he turned the wheel and changed gears to maximize his speed. Navigating the rough terrain, maximizing traction and avoiding the numerous horrors behind him as the car jumped up and down like the roughest amusement park ride ever, Shirou couldn't shake off the grin as his veins coursed with adrenaline and fire.

The tents loomed ahead, the magical energy of _something_ lurking beneath the surface tickling his skin and nose. His breath comes out as a cloud of steam, his eyes jumping to the rear-view mirror as his hands swerve the wheel to avoid a pouncing horror from grasping onto the car.

This straight patch of land, where the tents had been set up would give him the optimal amount of traction and acceleration. Giving the wave of darkness one last grinning look, he set in the top gear and slammed the pedal down. The car roared to life under him and he swerved to avoid a rock as the distance between him and the horrors grew.

He needed to clear the tents before the horrors were there, otherwise he would be caught in that snare as well. Whatever Rin and Luvia had concocted up, Shirou was certain that he did not want to be caught in it.

Still, he needed cover from line of sight, so if he just drove into the tents and tried to run, some horrors would no doubt give chase to him. Therefore, he needed to enter the diagonally. He grinned, a stupid but exciting idea entering his head and refusing to be unheeded. He took a deep breath, using one hand to press the button to roll down the windows automatically; he needed a quick getaway from the car, after all.

He turned the wheel, changing the car's heading from going straight into the tents, turning to drive diagonally toward it. Just as the first tents were an instant away, Shirou turned the wheel as he kicked in the clutch. Changing gears, grabbing the handbrake, entering sideways, letting the rear-wheel drive kick up dirt and mutating his forward momentum into a curving strafe; this was undoubtedly a drift!

Tents were torn apart, luggage was thrown around, the side of the car made sounds of repeated impacts as he drifted straight through a dozen tents as luggage and canvas went flying all around him.

The car lost traction and spun out of control and Shirou let out a laugh as he released his seatbelt. Lifting himself out of the side window he jumped out of the car with a roll and spared not a glance to the car still spinning wildly as it crashed into another tent.

Not giving himself a second of rest, Shirou sprinted toward the opposite end of the tent formation. Jumping over tent lines and ducking beneath hanging canvas, he could already hear the horrors behind him.

Making it out, he spotted the tree that should cover him. Giving it one last sprint, he burst forward with all that he had as he ignored the pain in his limbs and the exhaustion that permeated his everything.

With a stumbling roll, he made it behind the tree and let out a sigh of relief as he could feel some sort of _pressure_ around him.

A bounded field. The 'safe zone' that had been prepared for him. Perhaps the cover of the tree and the trap sprung on the horrors would have been enough, but right now Shirou took all that he could get.

All the exhaustion and pain that he had willed away before returned with a vengeance as he lay there motionless. Shirou panted for air, his eyes feeling heavy and his limbs unresponsive and tingling with the sensation of having been strained too far again.

Ah, maybe closing his eyes for five minutes wouldn't hurt...

As his eyes closed, Shirou fell asleep as his exhaustion overtook him.


	9. Loop 6-7

"Is this truly alright, Miss Tohsaka?"

"...Shut it. We don't need him to come along, right?" The raven-haired magus scowled and glared at the other. "Besides, he will just hold us back if we drag him along."

"Oh my, someone isn't being honest with themselves." The blonde laughed lightly, covering her mouth with her hand daintily. But beneath the innocent exterior, a malicious glint shone in her eyes. "Perhaps I should stay with him, just to keep him safe, after all?"

"Hah, try it. Shirou has better taste then to fall for a loose woman like you!"

"L-loose?! Who are you calling loose, you destitute harlot? You are the one who keeps flirting with any man and then selling all their gifts as soon as their backs are turned!" The blonde's exterior cracked instantly as her voice rose to match her companions. "Do you know what they call you, Miss Tohsaka? They call you the—"

"Ah, we're here." Rin's calm and graceful mien fell into place instantly and the other magus blinked in confusion for several seconds before looking at the group of people ahead.

"Hmph. This is not over." Luvia huffed.

"Well, far be it for me to instruct a _young noblewoman_ such as yourself, but the Edelfelt sure are sore losers." The words, dripping with mockery, only made the blonde woman seethe even more.

"Why you...!"

"Manners, now. Ah, 'manners' is not something you eat, just so to make sure you know. You never know with _hyenas_ , after all."

"Kh...!"

The two magi walked forward and were soon noticed by the group of people, who cheered at them. Well, they probably would not cheer for long, but that was none of their concern.

* * *

" _Em—,—in._ "

Shirou groaned.

" _—iya, come in._ "

Slowly opening his eyes, he looked at the sun shining through the leaves hanging above. It was a surprisingly comfortable sight to wake up to. He felt a little stiff, but surprisingly not too cold despite the slight chill to the air.

" _Emiya, where the hell are you? Come in._ " Shirou frowned and fumbled for the earpiece that had fallen out again and placed it in his ear.

"What...?" He mumbled, pressing down the button as he tried to sit up only to groan as his muscles protested at the movement. Right, he had been busy yesterday. Night. Whatever. "What time is it?"

" _Emiya! Where are you?_ " The radio blared into his ear, though not quite loud enough to be painful. Nevertheless, Shirou frowned.

The sun was high in the sky; it couldn't have been too long. Unless he slept a whole day and through the night. No, his body felt just sore enough for it to have been a few hour nap, nothing more.

"By the tents." Shirou said as he responded to the radio and turned to look at the tents. He froze as his eyes spotted what remained of them. It looked like someone had flattened the entire field, like some giant had come and stomped down with a flat shoe and crushed everything beneath his foot.

Nothing remained standing and now that he looked for it, he could smell the overwhelming scent of _their_ gore and guts. He realized with a trill of worry that he had been lucky to get out of whatever those two had decided to cook up for the horrors. "Or what's left of them anyhow."

" _Okay. The two mineralogy magi showed up, saying you had taken down the bounded field. What the hell happened?_ "

Shirou realized with a startle that he was talking to Adrian, the Enforcer, rather than one of the men who had been handling the other radio before.

"How long ago was that? Did they pick up the Mana Generator?" He inquired, getting up and ignoring once again the protesting muscles that did not seem to want to cooperate. His hand caught onto something.

Realizing it was his backpack filled with Molotovs, Shirou picked up the bag after checking it through quickly. It seemed that Rin and Luvia had left it for him there and left without him after handling the horrors. The bounded field seemed to be still working, as it still buzzed lightly against his skin and nothing had attacked him in his sleep.

" _Uh, it's been something like..._ " A short pause, and Shirou took that moment to scan his surroundings in further depth. But nothing seemed unusual. " _An hour, or two? No one has really been paying attention. Most of the water demons got pulled away, but with the remaining stragglers we cannot simply leave._ "

Shirou got up, stretching his neck as he loosened his body. A few hours nap wasn't anywhere enough for most people, but for him it was enough to rid him of most of the mental exhaustion he had accumulated.

"Most? Everything alright on your end?" He asked, as he checked everything and began to walk towards the containment field. In the light of day and without the worry of a few hundred horrors on his tail, the camp was much easier to navigate through again. Even with his aching body and empty stomach.

" _Yes, no problems. Two dozen or so remained behind. But they weren't any challenge for those two from the Department of Mineralogy and were chased off._ " Shirou kept walking, taking care to keep an eye out despite holding the conversation. It wouldn't be funny to die to a lone stray horror after surviving all that. " _...Speaking of which, what are those two doing here anyhow?_ "

"Huh?" Shirou's blank surprise was enough to stop him in mid-step.

What were those two up to, anyhow? They obviously weren't interested in whatever it was that Lord El-Melloi had wanted; having been little more than allies of convenience before. But the fact that Adrian—a member of the Enforcers—didn't know either was surprising. "They never told me. I thought you guys would know...?"

" _...No, well. They were with the Lord, so no one ever questioned them._ " The young Enforcer sounded unsure all of a sudden. Shirou frowned as he began walking again, making sure to pick up the pace. " _The higher ups—Madame Adashino and Enforcer Durstan—didn't know anything about those two. I mean, rumor has it those two haven't been seen for months and now they just show up. Here and now of all places?_ "

Shirou swallowed nervously before he pressed down the radio button to speak. "What are you trying to say?"

" _...Isn't it suspicious? I mean, they just showed up and ignored everyone and then took off with the Mana Generator._ " The young Enforcer's voice picked up in speed and volume, as if he was becoming more and more confidant with his words as he spoke them. " _Emiya, tell me. Did they help you at all with bringing down the bounded field?_ "

"Stop beating around the bush. What are you trying to say?" Shirou repeated himself, suddenly stopping again as his grip around the radio made the black plastic creak. There was a long silence from the radio, as if the Feyn-Mallard had been taken aback by Shirou.

" _...They might be working with Hermit._ " Shirou bit his teeth so hard that they might crack as he took a deep breath. He opened his mouth to refute those words, but the radio crackled and the Enforcer continued. " _I mean, why else would they have been waiting outside the barrier to swoop in and take the Mana Generator away when they have no authority here?_ "

Shirou shook his head, took a deep breath and broke out into a loping run towards the containment field. He had warmed up enough already, a light jog wouldn't be too much.

"That's ridiculous. Why would they heal me and then take out the horrors. Besides, I know those two, from years back. What you're saying makes no sense." Shirou calmly refuted the Enforcer.

" _...Did you see them take out the horrors?_ "

Shirou frowned as he continued pumping his feet. The burn in his muscles spoke of his exertions previously but it wasn't quite so bad that he couldn't keep going. "No. There's nothing left of them, either. But that doesn't mean anything. I mean, previously we also undid a barrier similar to the one that was on us. We released a True Ancestor who was also looking for Hermit. For them to be on his side makes no sense."

" _...Then why take the Mana Generator?_ " Shirou didn't understand the Enforcer's hang up with the Generator, but he ignored it as he continued running. " _They just showed up, as if they didn't care one whit about us and killed a couple of the horrors before all of the others scattered, almost like they were ordered to run away for show by those two._ "

"Be that as it may, you're not making any sense. There's no reason for them to be working with Hermit. What's the deal with the Generator anyhow?"

The radio remained silent for a few seconds, until it buzzed to life again.

" _...With the other bounded field down, the flow of Mana in the leylines is no longer directed to the second field. It's missing it completely; without the Mana Generator to hook into this field, it won't last more than a few hours._ "

Well, that changed things. Shirou wanted to sigh and let out some of his frustration, but given that he was running already he let go of that notion.

"Okay, okay. I'll start looking for them as soon as I get there. I'm less than a minute away. But as long as there aren't any horrors there, it should be fine, right?" Shirou finally spoke, after a long silence.

" _Alright._ "

Shirou continued running in silence, his annoyance building up at his own slow pace.

He dismissed Adrian's rantings after a moment's introspection; it made no sense to assume that Rin and Luvia were connected to Hermit. He hadn't noticed anything resembling subversive motives from either, and to him it simply seemed that they had their own motives that had nothing to do with the Clocktower in general.

Basically, just another day in magus politics.

Now, convincing the Enforcer of that was another thing entirely. Then again, perhaps there was no need for any of that. It wasn't like Shirou was acquainted with the magus or anything.

He arrived at the bounded field, having spotted the obviously impatient looking Enforcer. The man had looked like he had wanted to give Shirou a piece of his mind only to think better of it as soon as he saw Shirou's appearance.

"You... You look terrible. What happened?"

"Long story." Shirou smiled weakly. "Got any food or water?"

Adrian blinked, before nodding and walking off. There seemed to be a semi-permanent opening in the field now, acting like a gate. Shirou eyed everyone and was relieved to note that no one was injured. Not at least visibly.

Several of the men who had been taking a break noticed Shirou and raised their arms to wave at him. Though not really with any great cheer or vigor. Shirou sorely walked over to them, as he gingerly looked around at the group. Everyone seemed just as tired as he was, despite having been ensconced in the safety of the barrier.

Then again, he couldn't fault them for that. Being in the car surrounded on all sides by the horrors for five seconds had been an experience he wouldn't ever particularly want to repeat. However long they had been inside the bounded field, without any way out, must have been just as bad.

"Hey. Everyone still in piece?" Shirou asked, inserting some jovial cheer that he did not particularly feel into his voice. Some of them huffed half-hearted shrugs while others continued to stare blankly at nothing. Not too dissimilar to how Adrian had been once Shirou had originally found him in the car.

No one spoke a word, not until the Enforcer returned at least.

"Emiya." The man spoke, handing over a box full of nutritional bars of various kinds along with a bottle of water. Shirou accepted them with thanks and tore into one of the bars. It wasn't food, but it would keep him going for another few hours at least.

"So." Shirou looked up, finally meeting Adrian's eyes, having ignored the jittery magus' for a minute as he ate. He still had a little left, but with his hunger sated he could engage in talks without issue. "What's the problem?"

The Enforcer twitched, as if about to explode at Shirou in anger. But he took a deep breath and reigned in his temper, noticing that most of the others were also looking at him quizzically.

"I don't know how long the bounded field will last and with the horrors still out there, we can't stay here."

Shirou nodded and scratched his jaw as he looked at the field. It was still working, though compared to before when it was visible to the eye and tangible against your skin even at a distance due to the overflow, it was definitely weakened.

"Aside from the horrors that escaped, it shouldn't be a problem. Outside the encampment, there shouldn't be any more of them after the Executors wiped the ones from earlier out." Shirou finally said. "So, even if it does fall down, if we take out the remaining scattered ones, it shouldn't be a problem. Moreover, it won't disappear for a while yet. Right?"

"That's..." Adrian blinked. "How do you know that there aren't any more of them?"

"Rin and Luvia told me." Shirou said and with a look silenced the Enforcer's complaints. Adrian frowned and avoided eye-contact, clearly not agreeing with Shirou's assessment.

"Fine. Are we going to go and hunt them down, then?" Adrian asked, crossing his arms.

Shirou raised his brow at the 'we', but did not say anything. He thought about it for a moment, before nodding.

"Yeah, that sounds like the best course of action." He finally agreed after a few seconds of thought. Though he wanted to chase after Luvia and Rin, there wasn't exactly a pressing need for it. Those two clearly had their own ideas about what to do and hadn't needed him, so perhaps he should remain here where he could be of use by protecting the townspeople instead.

"You sure about that?" One of the freelancers asked, looking at Shirou uncertainly. Several others looked like they wanted to say something, but held their piece. Shirou merely nodded at them, as he continued eating.

Shirou finished his meal and got up, motioning the Enforcer to get ready as well.

"Any idea which way they went?" Shirou asked

"They spread out, running for cover as the first few got taken out. They're probably hiding out in the forest." Adrian noted, having gotten his equipment. Wearing the gaudy jacket and with the sword hilt peeking through the folds, he looked far more confidant than before.

Though there was still a spark of worry in his eyes that Shirou could see.

"Right. Well that's a pain." Shirou muttered. The trees offered excellent hunting grounds for the horrors that could climb up to hide and pounce from nearly angle, using any tree or cover to their benefit. "How many are there? Rough figures if nothing else."

The men looked at each other, discussing in low voices before settling on somewhere around a dozen surviving monsters. Shirou nodded at that, thinking that he could handle such numbers.

Though how long it would take would be a whole different matter. He wanted to chase after Rin and Luvia, despite being left behind. While protecting the civilians being a priority, taking down the rogue magus would be the quickest way to ensure their continued safety. 'Hermit' could simply summon more horrors if he wanted, after all.

"Alright, let's go." Shirou said, hefting his backpack and checking his pistol. He was running low on bullets already, he noted with a frown.

They left and made it for the closest outcropping of trees. Walking with Shirou in the front, looking at the ground for tracks and signs, Adrian had his sword drawn as he was holding onto something in his off-hand.

The man had a hesitation to his step, but refused to back down. Shirou hadn't thought much of the man before, but this made Shirou respect him a little bit.

They walked for a good five minutes, advancing slowly as the cover of trees and the tall grass made both acutely aware of how vulnerable they were.

Finally, Shirou spotted something. They had been following a set of tracks that indicated two to four horrors, and as they reached a shady spot Shirou could sense the tang of their odor in the air. He raised a hand, telling Adrian to slow down. After a moments hesitation, Shirou raised two fingers, pointing forward and the Enforcer nodded.

Shirou withdrew a bottle and fingered his holstered pistol as he took another step forward.

They broke into a clearing and Shirou's breath hitched as his heart stopped for a moment at the sight.

"What the...?" Adrian spoke behind him and Shirou could only agree with the sentiment.

In the middle of the clearing lay a pile of quivering and pulsating horrors. Bound to each other, wrapping their slithering tentacles around one another to form one large hill of alien musculature and teeth.

Shirou eyed the surroundings and looked at the horrors. It looked to be roughly a dozens worth, but it was difficult to tell as they slithered and roiled around each other. The two gave each other a look and nodded.

They would have to kill the horrors here, regardless of whatever the horrors were doing.

Shirou raised the bottle, halted for an instant to observe the horrors' for any sort of reaction, and the slung it forward with the same motion that drew out the pistol from the holster on his hip. A gunshot. The clatter of shattering glass. The _whoosh_ of alcoholic sludge catching fire and finally the chorus of pained cries of the mountain of horrors.

It all happened in a second.

And then the mountain of flesh rose with an ear-shattering whistle of rage as hundreds of teeth and claws clacked and rattled. It rose as one, not as a whole in unison, but as one and only one.

Shirou took a step back in shock as he realized that the seemingly disparate horrors were actually one single organism, somehow. The dozens of horrors were being devoured, melted and fused as they became one single horror, towering over the trees.

 _Ah, so that's where the great horrors came from._

A second passed as that thought ran through their minds, and then both freelancer and Enforcer turned on their heel and ran like hell.

After all, the Molotov had only managed to rouse it and catch its attention.

Shirou pumped his legs for all they were worth as he chanced a look behind him—the _cracking_ of tree being pulled and broken as it was torn from the ground, roots and all—being the only hint he got before he realized a tree was being _thrown_ at him.

Grabbing Adrian, Shirou rolled to the side as the great oak broke apart on impact with another tree, nearly uprooting that one as well under the force of the blow.

The fire wasn't doing anything other than making it angrier, Shirou realized with equal exasperation and annoyance. He turned to look at the Enforcer, who was staring at the great horror with wide-eyed panic.

"Well, this is funny little mess we managed to get ourselves into, huh?" Shirou chuckled as he realized that they couldn't run away from this thing. It was bigger and faster than they were and the moment they made it out of the cover of trees it could run them down with impunity.

Adrian looked at Shirou with confusion that certainly did not lose out to the fear he felt towards the great horror. His expressions seemed to be asking Shirou 'how can you be laughing right now?!' but Shirou could only shrug as his lips pulled into a grin.

"But at least this will make it quicker to mop them up; we won't have to run around looking for each and every single one _now_." Shirou said, pulling out another bottle as he turned to run around the great horror.

The great mass of eyes, tentacles and claws roared as it spotted Shirou again. The blazing flames licked the monster as the liquid dripping down all over the great horror. It almost looked like the monster had sprouted billowing red hair and the image made Shirou chuckle as he tossed the second bottle with a great shout.

Clattering against the horror as it was drawing back a dozen tentacles to lash out at Shirou, the second bottle erupted in another ball of fire as the great monster roared in agony. Shirou frowned as he noted the superficial damage as the fire began to spread. Already the grass around them was catching fire from the excess alcohol being slung about.

"Shit. A forest fire is all I need right about now." Shirou spat, drawing a third bottle but refraining from throwing it. The fire on the ground was from the mixture itself that had flowed off the great horror, not from the plants themselves catching fire. But that might change if Shirou kept chucking bottle after bottle with abandon.

"Ventas!" A roar reached Shirou's ears, and he had just enough time to notice the glinting gold coin being flung at the great horror, before a great windstorm of lashing gusts erupted from the coin on impact.

Shirou had to take a step back to keep from falling down as the sudden explosion of winds. He blinked his eyes to clear them off the dirt that had been picked up as he looked at Adrian. The Enforcer had his hand outstretched along with the sword drawn out as the point was held out toward the great horror.

Shirou grinned as he realized his companion had decided to join in after all.

The horror recovered itself; the impact had left dozens of small cuts on where it had been hit, all of which freely flowed with the horror's poisonous blood. The fire had also devoured the influx of oxygen greedily, but for all that it hadn't taken any serious damage as it roared again with a chorus of clicking sounds while getting back up.

Adrian lifted his free hand up to his face and muttered something, after which his hair began to flow as if a wind was pushing it. Shirou realized that it must be some sort of spell to prevent the noxious fumes from affecting him.

"Let's get him out into the open so that he can't throw trees at us!" Shirou shouted, before turning on his heel to run again. While trying to outrun the monster on open ground would be suicide, it did present a suitable stage for killing it. He could more freely use the remainder of his bottles there.

The sounds of the raging great horror behind Shirou assured that he wasn't being ignored and a second later the Enforcer flew past Shirou as if pushed by a great gale. In fact, the wake of Adrian's passing almost knocked Shirou over, assuring him that it was in fact some sort of magecraft.

Grinning and reinforcing himself to the maximum extent, ignoring the aching limbs as he drew upon his now somewhat restored reserves, Shirou picked up the pace to catch up.

Breaking out into a relatively flat clearing, farmland that had been left bare for the winter, Shirou looked around. During any other season there would be crops here, but it was completely open right now and only the dark brown soil could be seen. He could throw Molotovs with impunity here. Shirou continued running for another thirty meters before whirling around to a stop. Adrian had stopped twenty meters to the left and had now his left hand held up with several glinting gold coins held in between his fingers.

Shirou wondered if it was something similar to Rin's jewel magecraft or simply a mystic code that let him use his wind mystery at a distance with more focus. Shaking his head to rid himself of extraneous thoughts, the great horror came bounding out with a great clamor and cracking of trees a second later.

Shirou grinned; the wounds they had dealt were already healing but had clearly slowed it down enough that it had trouble keeping up. More fire and more damage would eventually down the monster, he decided.

With a great heave, the third bottle sailed through the air, but the great horror had clearly wised up to the effect of the bottles and avoided it with haste. The bottle hit the ground and shattered, but did not catch fire. Shirou grunted and drew a fourth bottle as he strafed around the horror, almost as if the role of prey and predator had been turned over.

He could feel its wary attention on him, the tentacles twitching and tensing as it slowly approached him. The fire on it was already slowly petering out as the alcohol was being consumed by the fire. The horrors themselves weren't that flammable and most of the solution had been shaken off as the horror hadn't been downed by the bottles. Indeed, Shirou could spot the trail of fire leading back into the woods they had come from. Hopefully that forest fire he was worried about would not become a reality.

As the great horror reared for another pounce—certain to have far greater range and power than a regular horror's leap—the young Enforcer that had grown tired of being sidelined took action. The coin this time struck the supporting tentacles rather than the main body.

With a great cry of "Ventas!", another explosion of serrated wind burst out and the horror toppled in a great outcry of pain and rage. Seeing as how the attack had done only superficial damage onto the body, Adrian had aimed at the limbs this time. Failing to cut any off cleanly, it still caused the great horror to stumble and fall.

Shirou did not fail to take this opportunity to throw another two bottles onto the great horror. One of the bottles failed the break and bounced off, but the other broke on impact and covered the horror in hungry flames and smoke.

"Outdoor barbecue, huh? Been a while since I last ate octopus." Shirou said, his hand reaching for the strap of the backpack. "Should have brought some condiments, failing that, try this!"

With a great shout Shirou slung the entire backpack into the air and is it reached the peak of its flight he put several rounds through the backpack. Each bullet broke several bottles, each bullet ignited the alcohol.

As the great horror tried to rise up, a veritable blanket of fire covered it and its cries of agony were covered by the great roaring of the inferno that consumed it. The flailing limbs, the writhing mass of flesh, the whistling that broke into wails that shook the air itself as the flames continued to burn with glee. It all made for a very intense moment, as both Shirou and Adrian stepped back to take cover from the heat.

"...Will that do it?" Adrian asked, holding up the sword. "Well, anyhow. If my coins have melted, I'll be looking for compensation."

Shirou huffed, "Bill it to the Clocktower; I'm just a poor freelancer."

The Enforcer scowled at Shirou, but quickly went back to eyeing the great horror. As the heat intensified or perhaps due to the flailing limbs, the bottle that had failed to break earlier shattered and caught fire as well in another explosion of flames.

Both took another step back. After another minute the great horror's struggles finally ceased. It coiled up and remained still as the fires burned.

After 10 minutes, the fires finally began to peter out and the horror was little more than a charred pile of meat, smoking and cracked all over as it cooled. It did not move. Neither said anything as they continued to look at the horror's corpse. They exchanged looks, as if daring the other to go and poke to body.

Finally, Shirou reached for his gun and put a bullet into the pile of charred flesh. It exploded with a small burst of flames but the horror did not react at all.

"Hmph, it was nothing for a true magus after all." The Feyn-Mallard smirked and sheathed his sword with a flourish, the blade making a swishing sound as it parted the air before clicking in place into the sheath.

Shirou huffed, but said nothing about the fact that it had been mundane fire that had dealt the most damage to the horror. He took a step towards the dead horror, intending to be absolutely certain, and the Enforcer followed him with casual confidence. Shirou wondered whether it was a sign of this magus' inexperience or his own wary weakness that he felt so compelled to make sure it was dead while Adrian felt completely at ease.

They got within five paces before Shirou stopped, suddenly feeling uneasy.

"What is it?"

Shirou didn't answer, taking a lower stance. But nothing happened. The Enforcer behind him looked confused and Shirou felt silly despite his mounting worry. There was no magical energy, no movement and it had been burning for a good while—in fact it was still smoldering a little—yet Shirou still felt uneasy.

So when the tentacle suddenly lashed out at him, Shirou didn't skip a beat as he jumped backwards.

"What the!" Adrian shouted, avoiding the blow himself barely as he horror suddenly _uncoiled_ , revealing un-burned muscles and eyes even as the outer layer still cracked and bleed. It had wrapped itself up completely and sacrificed parts of itself to survive. The Enforcer drew his sword, taking another step backwards.

Another tentacle lashed out at the Enforcer, who took a guard and swung out his blade. Shirou blinked in surprise; the sword was too slender and too light at the tip to be a decent cutting blade. Yet, the sword managed to nonetheless cut through the tentacle effortlessly as Adrian swung at the appendage.

Shirou realized two things. One, it was not a particularly sharp or spectacular sword but as a mystic code Adrian could focus his magecraft somehow to enhance its cutting ability. Two, a cut tentacle does not stop in mid-air despite being cut off.

"Oomphh!" The Enforcer made a sound like a sandbag being struck at full force as all the air in his lungs was blown out under the impact of the cut limb smashing into him at full speed. The impact sent him flying backwards in a rolling mess as the cut-off tentacle still managed to coil around the Enforcer and pin him down.

Shirou swore as he jumped back another step and turned to eye the great horror. It was unable to get up; only two still functioning tentacles remained and only a dozen eyes stared at him. Already dead flesh was beginning to be revitalized and Shirou realized it would sooner or later be back to full strength if it wasn't taken down here and now.

But, he had a premonition that _one good blow_ would be all that it took to put it down _now_.

Shirou grinned, arm outstretched and held in front of him to cover the eyes staring at him. "I'll take that chance —trace _on_ ,"

The eight steps came naturally; he had practiced his whole life for just this action. Nothing else mattered; nothing he had been taught by someone else about his magic was true. Another tentacle, the last whole one that the great horror had, lashed out.

Time had slowed to a crawl as his mind raced. His hand could already feel the heft of the blade in his hand despite being empty. He timed it, and swung out his empty hand as if a sword was held aloft.

Empty handed, his body would fold like cardboard beneath the force the great horror could exert, his bones snapping like twigs as his blood would explode out of his every orifice in a pink mist. But he did not hesitate.

Just as the tentacle was about to reach him, it was _complete_. Fingers wrapped around an enameled blue hilt, highlighted in gold and topped with a blue gem as the pommel.

The golden sword cut through the tentacle like a hot knife parts butter, the flailing limb still trying to grab onto him. But Shirou had already seen through that and knew how to use a sword; after a blow one must always guard against retaliation. The second return blow struck aside the tentacle and left another gash in the stump reaching for him with the back of the blade.

The great horror screeched in impotent rage, but Shirou cared none.

He side-stepped the flying stump and his hand flashed again, only this time he let go of the sword burning gold in his hand in the middle of the swing.

The sword flew like an arrow, piercing through the horror in an instant.

A last pained cry and shudder went through the great horror as the golden sword was planted straight in its core, punching through flesh and bone as it burned the monster from within. As the horror fell over, it made for a macabre rendition of the original legend of the sword as it stuck out from the dead beast. The bejeweled pommel glinted in the sunlight as it stood, one last shudder going through the monster under it.

Shirou took three steps back. For now he didn't want to breathe in the horrors dying breaths, he would have to draw loose the sword after the monster had "breathed" for a while first. Instead he turned to go help Adrian, who had just managed to slip free of the cut off limb and was getting up.

"You okay?" Shirou eyed the Enforcer; he had been thrown back a good 10 meters.

Adrian nodded breathlessly, patting his coat. It seemed that it had some protective value. At least, enough to off-set the tackiness of wearing such an unusual piece of clothing. Shirou grinned and gave him a hand, helping him stand up.

"Nice jacket." Shirou said with a crooked smile, the still breathless Enforcer giving him a glare as if to say 'you wish you had one, you punk'. "Let's head back, alright?"

Letting the magus lean on his shoulder, the two began to make their way back.

"Ah, wait. I almost forgot, give me a second." Shirou said, starting as he let go of Adrian. The Enforcer wobbled for a bit but remained standing by his own power.

Shirou walked to the remains of the great horror's corpse and after taking a large inhale and holding his breath, ran up to the sword and drew it loose. Testing the sword with a few swings and satisfied with its condition as what remained of the horror's blood was shook off, Shirou walked back.

Adrian seemed to have realized what Shirou was holding and how extraordinary it was, based on his gobsmacked expression. But despite the look in the Enforcer's eyes, no questions were forthcoming.

Shirou shrugged and held the sword casually to his shoulder.

"Alright, let's head back."

* * *

"That should have been most of them. Unless more are in hiding, then you should all be safe for the moment." Shirou said simply. Adrian was standing somewhat to the side, still nursing his ribs despite being able walk on his own.

The men looked at each other after Shirou spoke, but no one said anything. They took him at his word; he had proved his worth already more than once as far as they were concerned.

"And what do you intend to do now?" The Enforcer spoke, eyeing Shirou with renewed wariness.

"I'm going to track down Rin and Luvia and see if they need help. Or Lord El-Melloi or the Church's Executors. Doesn't really matter who, if I can help them put a stop to this then anyone will do, really." Shirou shrugged.

"That's..." Several of them started and began to discuss something in hushes whispers, as Adrian sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"So you have basically no plan." Adrian said and gave him a pointed look. Shirou could only shrug and nod, unable to deny that. "But you do realize that we were told to keep an eye on you, right?"

Ah, well. Shirou looked around and noted that several of the freelancers were giving him weary looks, as if wondering whether they would have to fight Shirou after all this. Conflicted between their orders and wanting to let him do whatever he wanted, be it due to gratefulness or simply fear, was leaving them in an awkward place.

That did pose something of a problem, as Shirou did not particularly like the idea of having to cut down comrades he had fought with, just to leave.

"I suppose I must come along to keep an eye on you." Adrian said with a mocking shrug.

Shirou blinked, before considering it. Of course, taking responsibility Shirou alone would essentially mean taking all of the responsibility on himself but compared to a fight it did seem the preferable option for the Enforcer.

"Well, if you think it's necessary I won't stop you." Shirou said with a smile. "Plus, you're decent to have around in a fight."

The Enforcer scoffed and did not say anything more.

Shirou got another bottle of water and some nutritional bars to go, noting that the stores here were running low but shook his head at the idea of getting more. Whatever that had been done to the townspeople was keeping them too dazed to eat or drink and without any pressing emergencies to handle, he should be worrying about ending the problem at the town rather than worrying about resources.

Adrian did not seem particularly concerned about food or water either, rather keeping a close eye on Shirou. As if expecting Shirou to run off at any moment, the Enforcer did not give him a moment of solitude. Shirou frowned at that, but did not voice any complaints.

The two left in the direction Rin and Luvia had left and soon enough Shirou was slowing down as he searched for tracks. He found a suitable branch for stride measurement and as soon as he found a set of tracks began to follow them.

Neither magus had taken any precautions with their foot prints, so tracking them was not particularly difficult. Still, they had to limited themselves to a walk or a slow jog at best to be able to always find the next track.

Finally after 15 minutes of jogging, following the mostly straight path that had been left behind, they made it to the edge of the town again. They had walked through several fields, dozens of ditches, two roads and a small patch of trees. Despite the variance in terrain, Shirou still had relatively little trouble following the tracks. But, the moment they reached the asphalt the trail was as good as dead.

"What now?" Adrian asked, looking around as he followed Shirou.

"Hmm? Aren't you the Enforcer? Isn't tracking down magi your specialty?" Shirou asked, getting up from the crouching position where he had been trying to find signs of their passing. Sure, he had been able to follow the dirt from their shoes for half a block but that was barely anything given the size of this town. It gave them a heading, but Rin and Luvia could take a turn at any point making that essentially worthless.

Adrian said nothing, merely closing his eyes in apparent concentration.

Shirou blinked, thinking that he was being ignored turned back to look around. Perhaps if there were enough security cameras, he could review the tapes...? No that would take far too long. If only they had a bloodhound or something, he thought to himself with a snort.

"No, I can't sense them. There is a lot of interference, so I'm not sure what's going on." Adrian spoke, opening his eyes and giving a half-hearted shrug.

"Right, well can you find the rest of the Clocktower people? Maybe we should group up." Shirou suggested.

"...No, that's not possible." Adrian shook his head, making Shirou frown. But seeing as how the Enforcer would not elaborate, Shirou did not press for answers.

"Then, shouldn't the Mana Generator be fairly easy to find?" Shirou asked. He picked a direction and began walking, hoping that perhaps he could find another clue. If not, he would just double back and look at another street.

"It depends." Adrian said, following Shirou. "If it was out in the open and running, the certainly it would. But if it is inside a bounded field that separates it completely from the outside, or is turned off, then I have no way of finding it."

Shirou nodded and looked around before doubling back to another street.

Finally, after another two dead ends, he sighed and looked around.

"We should find a lookout, somewhere higher up. Maybe we can find some clues that way." He said and looked back to see what the Enforcer thought. Receiving a nod, the two continued to walk down the street. Instead of chasing a trail, it would be better to see if they could spot the end destination from up high, Shirou decided.

Shirou stopped for a second and frowned. There was a hint of smoke in the air. Given the happenings of the previous day and night, it was not all that unusual but it was still a clue. Shirou picked up the pace and tried to find the source of the smell.

It wasn't just smoke, there was something familiar about the scent that he couldn't quite identify.

"It's way too quiet." Adrian noted after a while.

"Hmm?" Shirou blinked before nodding. He had thought the same; with the earlier conflicts, the townspeople had fled and once the Executors had taken out the horrors, there was no one left to cause a ruckus. But still, the town felt _too_ quiet. "Yeah and there's a weird smell in the air. Let's hurry up."

He intentionally avoided looking at the occasional splotch of blood, visible here and there. Around street corners, in alleyways and between cars, here and there. A dozen or perhaps two dozen by his counting. People that had died, already a long while ago due to the horrors. Little more than dried blood and the already fading scent remained of them.

They picked up the pace once more, Adrian grumbling more than Shirou despite using his Wind to make his movement faster.

It was only after having advanced for another ten minutes that they finally spotted something unusual.

Shirou had expected a few houses to have been knocked down, windows and doors to have been busted to grant entry and cars to have been totaled and flipped. That was within the extent of the physical ability the horrors had demonstrated.

So finding four entire blocks that he been completely leveled down was completely beyond his expectation. Nothing remained standing, as if a huge explosion had torn everything down.

There were charred remnants of buildings and asphalt which looked to have been molten down into liquid as whatever it was that had happened here. The pavement had pooled and bubbled due to the heat, giving it a wholly unnatural look now that it had cooled down.

Shirou suddenly felt very nauseous as he realized what the smell had been. It had been so long since he had actually smelled it that he had almost forgotten entirely the scent.

It was what a burned down city smelled like. The only thing missing was the obvious tang of fresh death and cooked meat, which served as a great source of relief for him.

"W-what happened here?"

Shirou shook his head to show that he did not know, but already his eyes were tracing the trail of utter destruction until he found what could be described as the end point. Moving forward, Shirou rushed for the collapsed building as he noticed pooling dark liquid from the rubble.

It smelled unusual, the thick black sludge reminding him of crude oil more than anything.

He was intent on digging out whatever it was that was buried there, afraid of finding a dead family or perhaps one of the earlier combatants, so when he spotted the scaly hide covered great claw he froze entirely.

"Oi, Emiya! What did you—" The question died in the Enforcer's throat as he spotted the limb as well. "What the..."

"That's... That's a dragon." Shirou said. He had never seen one, not at least in person. It matched the appearance enough that Shirou still felt quite certain about it.

The young Enforcer was starting at the dead dragon with a mixture of awe and terror, not listening to a word Shirou said. Shirou put a hand on the man's shoulders, eliciting a startled backstep from Adrian.

"You okay?" Shirou asked.

"Uh, ah. Yes. We should leave, we're wide open here." The Enforcer answered, turning on his heel to walk away without waiting for a reply from Shirou.

* * *

He was Adrian Feyn-Mallard and he was a proud magus. Or so he liked to tell himself; it wasn't quite true _yet_.

Though currently an Enforcer and forced to perform menial tasks to make ends meet, he still had pride in his mysteries and his lineage. Short though it may be, it had potential to one day be great. But for the moment, he was forced to work until he grasped the power to truly matter.

At first he had not understood why he had been told to stay behind. He had been told to remain behind and watch over this oriental freelancer that the false Lord had picked up, along with the rest of the camp. But in the last few hours he had begun to see why it had been a sensible decision.

Adrian glanced at the golden sword in the freelancer's hand, before hastily pretending that he hadn't looked.

He had no idea where that item had come from, this holy sword that radiated with a power and presence that exceeded their combined capacities for magic even on the best of days. One second the man had been unarmed save for his mundane tools, the next there had been a sword. It had happened in the instant that he had been knocked aside by the great water demon, in the blink of an eye.

Seeing how the Emiya scion had not only managed to fight off numerous water demons, had apparently broken them out of the bounded field and then had helped dispatch a great horror with confidence that bordered suicidal arrogance, he finally understood why he had been told to keep an eye on this man.

Either this man was a rare great talent that bore observing _or_ he was pretending to be one to gain into their confidence.

Having lost contact with the others as the bounded field had gone up several hours ago—or should he say, the previous evening?—he had quickly fallen to panic and holed himself up for survival. As he realized that he had been found by the Emiya, his panic had flared to an all time high.

It was only as he was forced to calm down—by the Emiya, no less—that he began to consider _why_ any of this might have been happening.

'Hermit managed to subvert a fortress-class bounded field and infiltrate it with his familiars'? Ridiculous. No matter how talented he was, that was simply ridiculous. Even a mere third-generation could see that.

'Emiya Shirou, heir to Emiya Norikata whose crest had been sealed and later stolen, worked together with Hermit to sabotage the Clocktower's forces sent to subdue and capture them'? Now that sounded far more plausible.

Therefore, he had to regain his self-control and ascertain the truth of the matter. He observed the oriental magus, observed and made notes. Seemingly self-sacrificing, highly impulsive and determined, fearless and tireless. Completely certain that those two Mineralogy magi were not involved, as if the mere idea of suspecting those two was unbelievable.

The sight of a Phantasmal Species hadn't even so much as surprised the man. What kind of past would someone have to have, to recognized and accept a dead dragon's existence in a second? Ridiculous.

The more he saw, the less Adrian believed any of it. It must be an act, concluded. Ease with which the horrors were dispatched, the ruse with the bounded field, his vehement protection of the two mineralogy magi...

I must keep keep an eye on him, he told himself. I must not let him get in contact with the Clocktower's main force, he told himself. I have to follow him until I can reason out what his plan is, he told himself.

Through all this, Adrian Feyn-Mallard kept one eye on Emiya Shirou. After all, if he could capture Hermit by himself the reward would be considerable. Considerable enough that he could end his days as a lackey and truly devote himself to his research.

Of course, that was only if he managed to stay alive. And running into a dragon or whatever could down one was not likely to help with that.

* * *

He had two bullets left, Shirou noted as he holstered the pistol. Well, given that he had used all of his bottles already it didn't really matter. Not at least as far as fighting horrors went, much less dragons.

But on the other hand he could use them to give himself a quick pick-me-up in case of emergency. As long as he didn't mind excruciating pain and keeling over for a couple minutes afterwards. Oh, and internal damage from the alien magical energy raging inside of him.

Still, something worth keeping in mind.

Or if he really wanted to find Rin and Luvia...

Shirou looked at the Enforcer who had been quiet for a while now. The Enforcer's were anti-magus specialists, that much he knew. That meant they were usually skilled in finding and tracking magi. That meant, that if he handed over one of the gems, then he was sure that Adrian would be able to use it to find Luvia.

It wasn't a direct link to her, but it was a part of her magical energy bound with her unique magecraft. Surely, if he handed it over it would be useful in finding them.

But of course, that would mean that he would be breaking his promise to Luvia. Back with the homunculus whose name Shirou already forgot, it had been a matter of life and death. He had forgotten entirely about that promise, telling himself that he would bear with her displeasure and wrath if it meant saving a life.

To find Luvia, the Enforcer would no doubt have to reverse engineer the gem to some extent. Something that would no doubt be unacceptable to Luvia.

It wasn't quite worth it, Shirou finally decided. It wasn't like he distrusted the Enforcer especially, but Shirou was sure Luvia would not be happy with him if Shirou gave her gems away nilly-willy. She only entrusted him with them, knowing that he was too unskilled to actually unravel their mysteries and pose a threat to her heritage.

So given that that was out, what else could he do? Continue wandering until something happened?

At the moment, perhaps the most important thing was to find out from where and how a dragon had showed up. Shirou had never seen one in person, but he had dreamed of some several years ago. The one he had found in the wreckage had been smaller, but still undeniably a dragon.

Also, there was the matter of who had managed to kill it and why?

There weren't many who could go head on against a dragon. And a head on fight it must have been judging by the sheer devastation left behind. Shirou considered the forces he knew were present; the Clocktower, Hermit, the Church, the True Ancestor, Rin and Luvia and finally himself.

Unless some new force had entered the scene, the natural assumption was that the dragon was brought here by one of those forces. But who?

"Arcueid Brunestud is the most obvious assumption, given her connection to Gaia... Right?" Shirou muttered to himself as he moved to follow the Enforcer.

But why would she need a dragon? She was already vastly more powerful than anyone else on the field. Hell, Shirou wasn't even sure that anyone else could take on a dragon. Not at least physically.

So did that mean someone else had summoned it to fight against Arcueid? Perhaps the Church or the Clocktower had one, stored away just for situations like this?

Shirou frowned and stopped, "That doesn't make sense."

Adrian stopped, noticing Shirou had stopped walking as well.

"We should stay and investigate the dragon more thoroughly." Shirou said turning on his heel to walk back, missing completely the complicated expression on Adrian's face.

Certainly, avoiding whoever had caused this much destruction seemed like a smart course of action. But they needed a clearer picture of what had happened and as a magus it behooved him to investigate. A third-rate he may be, but Shirou still had some sense of what that entailed.

Shirou walked back to the dead dragon, carefully observing it for any signs of life. The great horror had been enough of a handful for Shirou to want to avoid a repeat performance. He stabbed the golden sword into the ground, letting it stand by itself.

The Sword in the Asphalt? Shirou wondered with a smile whether it would count as a stone as well, as strange sort of nod to the original legend. It would be slightly bothersome if he wouldn't be able to pull it out again. The Enforcer gave the sword a glance, as if asking nobody in particular whether it was proper to treat a sword that way, but then pretended to not have noticed it at all.

"Something wrong?" Shirou asked and the Enforcer reacted as if he had been caught with one hand in the cookie jar.

"N-no. I was merely... Merely curious as the where you found such a sword. I would have expected you to be wield an oriental blade." Adrian waved off the question as he looked around awkwardly.

"Huh. Well, it's on loan. Or something close enough." Shirou frowned, looking at the blade. It did indeed not quite fit him, far exceeding his ability and status. Perhaps he should look into finding something that suited him better. Perhaps indeed an Asian sword? Something that not quite as eye-catching.

A matter for another time, Shirou told himself as he shook his head.

Shirou crouched down and began to remove debris and detritus from the crushed house. Around him, Shirou could see small fires still burning and more of the same destruction. In the air there were several distinct smells he could recognize. Fire, burned wood and fabrics, molten metal and asphalt and such. But very little that reminded him of magic.

Did dragon fire smell different from regular fire? Could you sense it with your magical senses? Shirou wasn't sure.

But based on what he could see and assuming that it didn't, then this dragon had been taken out with purely physical force. Finally after laboring for five minutes and barely even scratching the surface of the pile, Adrian sighed loudly and drew his own sword.

"Hmm?" Shirou looked at the Enforcer askance as he drew out a handful of coins again, this time of silver. No, rather some other base metal dipped in silver. Forgery coins, Shirou could tell.

Adrian threw the coins at the pile and the small objects easily fell between the cracks in the detritus and rubble. Then, pointing his sword at the rough location where he had thrown the coins he whispered a word with closed eyes, " _Prendo_."

He lifted the point of the blade straight upward. Suddenly, as if someone had been beneath the pile, it rose to follow the point of the sword. Remaining at the exact same distance from the tip of the sword and following the point, the pile of rubble was lifted and moved through the air.

Shirou stared blankly, for the hundredth time in awe of what magecraft could accomplish.

"Thanks." Shirou said, giving a thumbs up and a crooked smile before going back to digging.

Getting the worst of the house off of the dragon after five minutes of work, Shirou finally found his first wound on the dragon. Four parallel rends, ten to twenty centimeters apart, tearing out massive chunks of the dragon's internal organs and muscles, regardless of the protective scales.

Behind him, Adrian looked on curiously.

"Yeah. Has to be Arcueid." Shirou frowned. The Church's Black Keys when used in close combat might leave somewhat similar wounds, but he doubted that they could so easily wound a transcendent species like a dragon. Well, in either case it should mean that dragons were to be considered hostile. "But where did she go after that?"

Shirou looked around and while there were somewhat obvious trails of destruction to be followed, they all seemed to lead to dead ends. As if there had been a running fight and this had merely been a location where it had come to a head, before the combatants continued moving on.

Did he even want to find her? Could he offer her any help? Not likely.

Perhaps Adrian's idea of getting away from here was not a bad one, all things considered. Then again, given that the fires were already dying when they got here and the cooled down remains, the fight must have occurred quite some time ago.

Shirou wondered if there even was anything to be found in this ghost town anymore. Why had the fighting originally started here? He tried to think back and to him it seemed like the town itself did not seem too important. The more he thought about it, the more it seemed like it was all a distraction.

"We need a map." Shirou finally decided and began to walk. He took the golden sword and flourished it as he thought. He did not bother to wait for the Enforcer, as he merely walked to the nearest car and shattered the passenger window with the pommel of the sword.

Reaching in, Shirou opened the glove compartment and rummaged through it. Finding nothing, he scowled and found the next car, repeating his actions.

"Hey, what are you—"

"Hah, found one." Shirou pulled out the folded over paper map. Opening it up over the roof of the car, he began to look it over. If he were a magus in hiding, where would he be? Would he prefer being well hidden over overt protections? What about location; would he need leylines or access to certain things?

Shirou peered over the map, before looking back into the car. With a 'hah!' he found a pen and began to draw circles at locations at seemingly random.

"What are you doing?"

Shirou continued, ignoring the Enforcer who seemed to grow irate at that. He pondered and looked around, before finally nodding to himself.

"There's no point in wandering around, hoping to run into something by chance. Let's find a vantage point." Shirou said, simply. The Enforcer looked nonplussed, but Shirou merely grinned and folded up his map.

It was like Rin and Luvia had said; only amateurs concentrate on the obvious.

* * *

Shirou nodded to himself, adding more and more markings with the pen on the map. Houses destroyed, obvious sites of fighting, locations that hadn't been touched by the fighting at all, locations where the fighting seemed to have been at their most intense.

He noted down all that he could and pondered.

Assuming that Hermit truly was here in Leiston, within the town borders and hiding somewhere, summoning horrors and dragons alike to fight for him, where would he hole himself up? Or to mirror that question, where would he make sure to summon his berserk forces to avoid being caught up in it himself?

As far as Shirou knew, the town did not have extensive underground complexes or subways, ruling that out right off the bat. Neither did there exist any facilities tough enough to withstand the kind of destruction that had been visited on this town as collateral damage.

If Shirou were hiding out, _he_ would rely on hiding in plain sight, disappearing in a crowd or being simply difficult to find by virtue of cover. Hermit, no. Relchronos had proved himself to have a dislike for direct confrontation, preferring to use ambushes and traps to handle his opponents.

Therefore, assuming that he would not hole himself up in a stronghold only made sense. He would find a plain and unassuming location and lay protections to keep himself from being detected through other means, magical or otherwise.

Shirou looked at the map and then back up at the town below him.

And since it would not be heavily protected for fear of being discovered, having gigantic dragons or horrors traipsing about and crushing houses underfoot seemed very unfavorable.

Shirou drew three circles. There were three locations, filled with regular residences and house, where no combat had occurred. Moreover, when the "tracks" of fighting seemed to near two of those locations, suddenly the intensity of the fights seemed to have risen. Almost as if someone had summoned more monsters, saying 'No, do not come this way. Go that way, shoo shoo.'

Shirou smirked as he closed the map again and stuffed it into his jacket pocket.

He jumped down and nodded to the Enforcer who was looking at him with a frown. Shirou grinned, before saying "Alright, now we need wheels."

This only confused the Enforcer further, but Shirou ignored him as he walked over to the nearest car and once again used the holy sword to open it up. Though, wishing to not have glass all over the seat, Shirou opted to instead simply stab through the lock and destroy the mechanism holding the door shut. The sword cut through the metal and interior with ease and Shirou wondered whether Saber would scold him for the careless way he kept on handling the sword. Perhaps he should project the sheath as well and wear it on his belt.

Well, it wouldn't fit in the car so maybe later. Shirou jumped in and set the sword between his seat and the now closed door, motioning for the Enforcer to get in as he unlocked the other door. "Get in."

"What are you planning?" The Enforcer asked, stepping into the vehicle and Shirou began to fiddle with the wiring beneath the steering wheel. When he fixed electrical appliances back in high school, he never really expected it to become one of his most often used skills when he needed to steal a car.

Shirou sighed, clearing his mind as he reached for the sword. Using it to cut the wires, Shirou wondered what Saber would think of him using her sword to steal a car.

"Guess I've got a lot of flab on my mind today..."

"Huh?" Adrian asked, looking at Shirou askance.

"Nothing."

The Enforcer looked on in silent fascination, probably trying to divine how it was done to rectify his own failure back with the first car. Soon enough, they were on their way.

Having to navigate completely empty streets might have been easy, but with the prospect of large carnivorous transcendent species roaming about, there was a certain tension in the car. Still, they arrived at the first neighborhood in less than ten minutes.

Shirou slowed down as he frowned.

There were a lot of houses, any of which could have been a hiding place. He slowed down and finally pulled to a stop as he frowned. Without any obvious way to check for Relchronos' presence Shirou was out of ideas.

"Hey, Adrian." Shirou turned to his passenger.

"What is it?"

"Assuming that Hermit was hiding out here, in one of these houses. How would you go about finding him?"

The Enforcer blinked, before looking away and frowning as he cupped his chin with one hand in a thoughtful expression.

"Well, the theory is that any bounded field can be sensed with magical detection. Either due to an overflow or an echo that ripples through the surroundings, as achieving a perfectly camouflaged field is only theoretically possible." He finally spoke.

Shirou nodded and frowned. To him it hadn't seemed like any of the bounded fields he had run into had been so obvious. For one, he was not the most skilled magus around. For another, Rin and Luvia who were more skilled at magecraft had not sensed any of the fields as far as he could tell.

Given that he had not been found yet by any of the Church or the Clocktower's people, Shirou had to assume that there _was_ some sort of bounded field in place. But if it could not be detected nor could it be stumbled upon, then how was he supposed to find it?

Narrowing the search down to two neighborhoods that he thought most likely was the best that he could do, then?

Shirou shook his head and started the car and began to drive around. Perhaps if he checked out the houses, one by one, he could find something to work with? Breaking and entering was hardly anything new to him at this point.

Though it would mean a lot of work and he would be very open to ambushes while searching. Especially if any of the neighboring houses would be tripwires for alarms. No, Shirou would need to know exactly where to move if he wanted to have any chances of winning without giving away his presence until the very last second.

"Huh?" Shirou stopped and blinked. There was something ahead of him, he knew. Yet he saw nothing. He frowned as he squinted and looked forward, trying to find why he thought he couldn't keep driving. "That's unusual."

Adrian perked up, looking around warily with one hand on his sword despite the cramped car. Shirou noted with slight amusement that the sheath on his belt did indeed make sitting in a car very uncomfortable.

"What is it? An ambush?"

"No... I just have a weird feeling." Shirou shook his head and let go of the clutch, letting the car roll forward gently. "Must have been my imaginat—Ooph!"

Both jerked forward and their seatbelts locked as the car came to a sudden stop, as if Shirou had driven into a wall. Incidentally also knocking all the air out of Shirou's lungs.

"Huh?" Shirou blanked entirely, before realization dawned on him. He reversed the car and the engine whirred in complaint, before they managed to get loose. It was easier than the time with Arcueid he noted.

"What the hell...?"

"It's another of Hermit's bounded fields." Shirou noted, before closing his eyes.

"Huh? But there's nothing there."

Shirou nodded at that; he couldn't sense anything magical ahead of them despite the bounded field being right in front of their noses.

A strange thought occurred to him. Weren't there military airplanes designed to avoid detection by design that allowed them to absorb some of the radar waves? Then, if the bounded fields of stagnated time absorb everything without letting anything out...

Wouldn't that make them perfect for hiding from magical detection?

But... Couldn't he feel something _off_?

He closed his eyes and tried to focus. Using not technique, but intuition, not theory but instinct. He focused and tried to probe with all his sense ahead.

There. A hole in the veil of reality.

Now that he had realized it existed, he couldn't stop noticing. Almost like a spotlight being shone in his eyes, the existence of the bounded field suddenly seemed impossible to miss.

"Huh." Shirou shook his head and rubbed his temple as he looked around. He could sense several similar spots ahead, but none of them were on any of the houses themselves. Could they also have a similar function to Rin's hiding bounded field?

Shirou frowned and shook his head. No, they were all too small. A magus, by nature, would want an enclosed by wide space to work in. Somewhere far from prying eyes but with enough working space that they could let all of their hidden materials pile up.

Of course, he had only been in a handful of workshops so perhaps that wasn't an overt generalization. Still, those had been magi on the run and Relchronos did fit the bill.

"What is it now? Why did we stop?" Adrian next to him looked increasingly agitated and Shirou gave him a reassuring smile, which did nothing at all to settle the man.

"Nothing, nothing. Let's keep going." Shirou said, with a chuckle. "We have a town to comb through, after all."

* * *

Ciel stopped and looked around.

Old habit of working mostly alone, really. There were Executors who were scouting around them, so she need not bother to look for external threats. She was in command now, after all. Though who had thought it a good idea to place a bunch of Eight Sacrament Assemblymen under the command of a Burial Agent, she did not know.

Then again, she didn't exactly trust that the people she was in command of were exactly trustworthy either. So the action was not entirely meaningless. They were all good Christians here, except for her. Abomination as she was. She didn't particularly care about any of the people suborned to her right now either but still, it would be a pain if too many of these fanatics went and died on her watch. So she might as well keep a tight leash on them.

"Bow." The veteran Executor called, the lack of respect in his tone not unnoticed by anyone.

She did not bother to deign him with a reply, merely giving him a look that told him to speak his mind or stop wasting her time.

"Is there any meaning to this?" The Executor spoke, looking ahead at the looming building in the distance. It's appearance was drab and unassuming, beyond the fact that it was quite large. A modern industrial facility, lacking anything of the characteristic known as 'aesthetics'. "To _bowing_ under the whims of those heretics?"

Ciel gave him a withering look, as if asking whether he wanted to die, but the man only looked at her without flinching. To him, she was little more than an aberration and a heretic as well.

"If you want to chase after lizards and die a meaningless death, you may do so at your own leave. If you want to wander around town and get ensnared, well have fun. I won't be there to break you out, so I am sure it will be great fun for all involved." She made a shooing motion at him, as if encouraging him to go on, go on.

As she lowered her hand, the look in her eyes sharpened and the Executor's stance became _just_ a fraction tenser. "But know that if you do survive, you will have to answer to _my superiors_ as well when you do. Merem is out of commission, therefore you take orders from me. Understood?"

The lot grumbled and avoided eye-contact, but she ignored them.

They may have been asked by the mage's association of all people to secure this facility, but she could see the reasoning behind it all. It should be safe, even if everyone inside died. But the off chance was not something anyone deemed worth taking now that the issue had been realized.

She stopped and grimaced; the smell of blood and _alien gore_ was in the air.

It looked like coming here was the correct choice after all. She ordered the men to spread out in teams and to secure the grounds.

Well, it looked like the people inside had managed to barricade themselves and keep the stray horrors out while keeping everything from running out of hand. But still, making sure that was how it remained wasn't an unacceptable task at all.

"Alright, secure the area. We'll be staying here for a while." She shouted, before sitting down cross-legged onto the front of a car parked on the grounds.

 _Aa-ah, I'm hungry_... She thought to herself as she yawned, resting her chin on one hand. This had been a waste of time; this was what... The sixth place they were looking through? The seventh?

Still, searching the power plant was a bust. Might as well leave the rest here and head back into town and continue looking by herself. Alone she could avoid being pulled into ridiculous fights; she wasn't like that airheaded bimbo princess who only knew how to wreck things and throw around ridiculous amounts of money. Sometimes just avoiding notice was the best course of action.

Maybe she could look through a supermarket while she was at it. They were bound to have some good food stored away somewhere, right?

* * *

"So. That's it." Shirou nodded to himself. It had taken nearly an hour, but he had managed to comb through the areas he had suspected.

"What is?" Adrian groused. While the Enforcer had seemed perfectly willing to play second fiddle to Shirou as he drove around town, Shirou's refusal to actually explain anything was visibly beginning to annoy the man.

"I think I found Hermit." Shirou said simply.

When no reaction was forthcoming, Shirou turned to look at his passenger and was greeted by the sight of the slack-jawed Enforcer staring at him.

"You- you have what?" The expression was one of pure excitement, before the Enforcer mastered his face and affected doubt at Shirou. "That is... Where is he, then?"

"He's right there. Or I think he is, anyhow." Shirou pointed at a house. It was a perfectly ordinary house, in a perfectly ordinary neighborhood. Empty, just as every other house on this street was. So ordinary, that there really was no reason for anyone to investigate it closer.

"Where?!" The Enforcer's head swiveled so fast that his glasses almost flew off in his panic. Shirou pointed at the house in question again and the man frowned as he peered at it. "But there's nothing there."

"Exactly. I think you could walk right in and see absolutely nothing out of place. I think he's somehow double layered himself in a copy of that house on the exact same spot, hiding from view."

"...That's..." Adrian looked uncertainly between the house and Shirou. "How do you know that?"

Shirou shrugged and Adrian scowled.

"I can't really explain it, but there's something there."

"Alright. Say that I believe you." Adrian said, crossing his arms. "What is the plan, then?"

Shirou shrugged again and Adrian looked like he was about to have an apoplectic fit as Shirou gave him an apologetic smile.

"I really didn't think that far ahead. I have no idea how to get inside, so..." Shirou said as he let off the parking brake and began to drive away. "I was thinking that perhaps you had some ideas."

Adrian looked annoyed for a few seconds, before turning away thoughtfully.

"I'll see what I can do."

Shirou nodded, and the Enforcer closed his eyes. Shirou felt the barest whisper of _something_ and looked at Adrian curiously as he continued driving. He would go to the end of the street, far enough to appear unknowing but close enough to be able to keep an eye on the house.

Finally, after a few minutes the Enforcer opened his eyes and wore an expression of annoyance.

"I managed to contact the others."

"And?" Shirou asked.

"They ran into the dragons earlier and followed after the True Ancestor, hoping to combine forces with her. They're three hours away and still trying to get in contact with her. They said that they would 'inspect it upon their return'... I don't think they believe you." Adrian said, with an expression of annoyed resignation before he turned to look at Shirou in the eye. "What about you? You broke the bounded field over the camp, didn't you? Can't you do that again? We could find Hermit even without the others, surely?"

Shirou blinked before scratching his jaw as he avoided eye-contact. "Ah, well. That probably won't work."

This bounded field wasn't powered by leylines and assuming that Shirou could break through it, he would be completely out of action afterwards. That might have been fine if they had back up to take over the vanguard once he was out of the action, but as it was it wasn't an acceptable course of action.

Besides, Shirou wasn't exactly sure whether it was a good idea to show off his Noble Phantasm in front of the Clocktower's people. He wasn't a hundred percent sure about what it took to receive a sealing designation, but that seemed like something that would skirt that line.

"So how about the Executors? Any idea where they might be? Or Rin and Luvia?" Shirou offered instead, wanting to get off the subject of his breaking them out earlier.

"I refuse to work with those Church dogs." Adrian scowled, spitting to the side after he spoke just for emphasis.

Shirou blinked and slowly nodded.

"Alright, then what about Rin and Luvia? Do you know of any way to find or contact them?" Shirou asked.

Adrian shook his head with a frown. "Those two are too wily for the usual methods. I doubt that we could find them even if we tried all day."

Shirou clucked his tongue and frowned. What was the point of having intel if he could not act on it? For the umpteenth time, he cursed the fact that despite similar goals the various factions of the moonlit world would never cooperate in anything they did.

In the end, it came down to the gems Luvia gave him. But could he simply hand them over, knowing that it would be a betrayal of her trust?

Would she even be willing to work with him, if he did simply hand one over?

"Hey, assuming you had one of their gems... Would you be able to locate them somehow?" Shirou asked.

The Enforcer looked surprised before becoming thoughtful. "If it does contain their magical energy, and specifically their odic force rather than Mana or something else, it should be possible. At short distances, anyhow.

"The principles of Correspondence and Vibration should make it possible. 'As below, so above. As within, so without' and all that. No, rather than possible it would definitely work." The Enforcer seemed to get more and more excited as he muttered to himself.

"Hey, hand it over. I will find them and then we can finish this." He extended his hand at Shirou with an expression of expectation. Shirou cleared his throat, scratching the back of his head awkwardly as he wasn't sure what to say. Shirou hadn't expected this enthusiastic a reaction after all.

"Ah, well. You know how it goes. Buy mystic codes, seal the deal with a geas to prevent the mysteries from being spread around..." Shirou fibbed, avoiding eye-contact with the Enforcer. Luckily, it seemed like he was believed quite easily.

"I see. Of course, it wouldn't make sense for you to have one otherwise. A self-geas scroll for the purchase contract, that makes sense." The Enforcer said, as if sizing Shirou up. For a moment, Shirou wondered whether Adrian was considering simply taking the jewel and using it himself and leaving Shirou behind, now that Shirou had pointed out where Relchronos was most likely hiding.

The moment passed and the Enforcer shook his head. "Well, it should be possible do it with... Hmm...

"If we think of magical energy as water, or even air. Then it will obviously flow in a certain fashion..." As if struck by inspiration, the Feyn-Mallard became very quiet. Furrowing his brows and holding his chin in his hand, he was the very image of a magus lost in thought.

Shirou decided that he ought to stay silent. At least until it seemed like Adrian was finished with his line of thought. After a short moment, the magus finally nodded to himself with a confident smile.

He looked up to Shirou and as their eye's met, he nodded. "It can be done. It will be a bit roundabout, but..."

Shirou had the decency to look embarrassed as he nodded, but nonetheless he did not want to break his word with Luvia.

Adrian took out one of his gold coins from a inner pocket in his jacket and held it in his hand as he began to chant under his breath. After a minute, he opened his eyes and looked at Shirou as he extended his hand.

Shirou reached out to accept the coin held in the hand, but Adrian didn't quite give it yet.

"This is no longer a mystic code, but it is still a _gold coin_. You understand?" The Enforcer looked Shirou straight in the eye, looking more serious than ever before.

"Right. I'll compensate for it, if it's broken or lost." Shirou said, nodding as he accepted the coin. He looked at it and blinked as he could not notice anything unusual about the coin. "So, what do I do with this?"

"Take the gem and insert it into the coin. It's gold, so it's plenty soft." Adrian said, motioning with his hand for Shirou to simply press it through.

Shirou frowned, but reached for his gun and took out one of the two remaining bullets. With a Caliburn, he carefully extracted the gem and then with another hesitant look at Adrian, pressed it into the coin.

It wasn't quite as soft as Shirou had expected, but the gem did somewhat get impressed into the gold. Luckily, the jewel had been quite tiny so it did not punch through and instead firmly remained in the center of the coin.

"Ok, and now what?" Shirou asked.

"Right, so now it's a divination tool attuned to that magical energy in specific. If it's that Edelfelt's magical energy inside it, then you should be able to use that coin to find her." Adrian spoke, looking quite satisfied with his work.

Shirou looked quite impressed, but then frowned. "So... How do I use it?"

"What do you mean? You..." Adrian frowned as well. "Erm... I didn't think of that. Usually you have a pendulum or a dowser, but... Flipping it? No, that wouldn't work. Spinning? Uhm... Let me think for a moment."

The Enforcer looked more than a little embarrassed, but Shirou did not begrudge him. It was a fairly common hiccup, to have a great idea but then forget about the execution, after all.

Finally after another minute of thinking, the two punched a hole through the coin and put a string through it to turn it into a pendulum. Then, it was merely a matter of feeling it as they moved along.

Shirou, feeling that it worked quite well and sensing no over magical energy from the item, felt satisfied that he hadn't betrayed Luvia's trust and that they would be able to find her with this.

Adrian also felt quite satisfied; he had no interest in the gem but having handed over the coin to the target he was assigned to watch worked out in his favor. If Shirou held onto it, he would be able to track it down. Were Shirou to discard it, it would have absorbed Shirou's magical energy and just by removing the gem it could be used to track Shirou down just as it was used now to find Luviagelita Edelfelt.

With this, he had another means of holding onto Emiya Shirou.

* * *

Unexpectedly, they arrived at a church of all places.

The old stone building, with large windows fitted with intricate glasswork and the very steep roof, had a certain air of power so perhaps it made sense for a magus to make it a base of operations. The sign outside the grounds said 'The Parish Church of Saint Margaret' and while Shirou did not know who that was, he did know that the church was of the Protestant faith.

Did the Protestant church belong to the Church? Shirou had no idea, not particularly familiar with the matter.

Located on the western town's end of Leiston, but with plenty of space around it and a clearly defined outer boundary with the graveyard, it made for an excellent fortress Shirou realized. Though the white picket fence did not look particularly impressive, they did make for a strong focus to set up a bounded field on. There were too many trees for his liking however, breaking line of sight too much for his comfort.

Unexpectedly, before they could arrive at the gate leading into the courtyard, the outer door opened and a familiar figure appeared. Shirou smiled and waved, as Adrian tensed up. The blonde by the door looked more annoyed and resigned than anything, so Shirou lowered his hand quickly enough.

Sensing the bounded field around the yard, they did not enter. Waiting by the gate that could have hardly stopped a five-year old much less a pair of combat professionals, the two magi looked at each other uncertainly.

The Edelfelt spoke to someone inside the church, before closing the door and walking up to them. She eyed the Enforcer with neutral eyes and Shirou with... amusement?

"Sherou. Did you miss me already? I could _feel_ you looking for me every five minutes for the past hour, now." She said, smiling wryly.

* * *

Tohsaka Rin waved off the blonde as she left the church. Something about handling the bounded field, she hadn't paid it much attention.

She was much too busy preparing their trump card after all. It had arrived mere hours ago, transported by an entire platoon of combat homunculi. Certainly, acquiring it had cost her an arm and a leg. But given the seriousness of the matter, Rin felt it an acceptable investment.

She had been tasked by her great master to handle this matter with Relchronos, after all. The greater her results, the greater the reward. Apparently the side-effects of whatever it was that Relchronos had done was an annoyance to the master of the Second True Magic.

Of course, with a troublesome and willful master as the great Schweinorg the reward could always be just as much if not more troublesome than the task itself.

But that was a risk one had to take as a magus.

She stepped back and observed her work and nodded in satisfaction. While necromancy wasn't her usual field of expertise, she was hardly uninitiated in the art. The body had hardly decayed at all since she had last seen it, but that was hardly unusual given what _it_ was.

Rin sighed, wanting to rub her eyes as she looked at the small still body on the table, but forcefully keeping her hands as far from her face as possible. She looked at the workspace she had made, in the middle of the altar, before the rows upon rows of heavy wooden benches.

The position where the casket during a burial service was placed, it had a strong affinity for this kind of work. Well, not really but it was the best she could find at such short notice. This was some unusual work that even her previous mentor, who had specialized in this kind of stuff, would have found challenging.

Still, the theory was sound.

Of course, given the delicate nature of this trump card, she had made sure to separate from all the other factions. The Church would no doubt take umbrage with her handling of the dead and this desecration of a holy place. The Clocktower would no doubt find her plan both alarming and intriguing and it would only lead to annoyances down the line. And Shirou...

Well, she wanted Shirou least of all to find out about what she was doing right now. She wasn't sure he would ever forgive her if he knew what she was doing right now.

"You know, while I never liked you, I never did hate you." Rin spoke and as her voice echoed in the empty church, she felt more alone than she had in a long while. Then she huffed in amusement and glared at the thing she was working on. "You were still an incorrigible brat."

The door opened behind her and Rin ignored it as she continued working.

The door that had been opened was closed again, with a low thump. The long aisles, the rows of benches and the high ceiling that were the hallmarks of a church made the sound of someone walking inside echo in that particular fashion as it is usual inside places of worship.

It told Rin that Luvia had returned and that she was not alone as the steps that approached her came in two. Rin frowned as she looked up from her work but did not turn around. "What is it, Luvia?"

"Oh, we've managed to find out where Relchronos has hidden himself." Luvia spoke from behind Rin. Rin frowned at that, ' _we_ '?

She turned around and looked at the blonde, only to freeze in place. Holding her glove covered arms up, stained and unsuitable for anything other than dirty work at the moment she felt the world fall out beneath her.

Emiya Shirou stood there, a step behind Luvia. And he wasn't looking at Rin. Ignoring the raven-haired magus completely, he was staring at the still childish body behind her.

"What..." The red-haired man was completely speechless as his eyes were glued onto the cut open corpse. "Rin... What is this?"

Rin did not know what to say. After all, how do you explain being covered in bodily fluids as a cut up corpse lay behind you. Wearing a work apron that would not look out of place on a butcher along with thick rubber gloves that went all the way up to her elbows, Rin licked her lips in a nervous habit, no words came out of her mouth.

Behind them all, the corpse of one Illyasviel von Einzbern lay silent on the table, having just been cut up from crotch to collarbone.

* * *

Way too many differing points of view this chapter. I had wanted to keep it to something like 1 per chapter but this just turned out like this. Additionally I had a hard time wrapping everything the way I wanted it. Oh well.


	10. Loop 6-8

**AN: Sorry, had to work for three weeks and due to only writing intermittently during that time I had to spend another week just to go through that stuff and try to reason out what the fuck I had actually written. 200 words here and 400 words there make for some very different tones for writing.**

 **This is the penultimate chapter, with only the epilogue remaining.**

* * *

Shirou glared at Rin, his eyes locked onto her completely and utterly. If he looked away, he was sure to be drawn to the sight of Illya once more.

A demand for answers almost passed his lips, but he reigned it in. Did he really want to hear what she was doing? Or give her the opportunity to explain herself in the first place? To make that first step of making this a matter up for discussion? The glance he had taken had told him more than enough. His circuits thrummed hot, unconsciously switching on, no doubt due to his anger.

She hadn't changed at all; the passing of time had barely affected her. Perhaps her unnatural body did not decay upon death, simply due to having been born perfect. Homunculi did not grow, thus it made a morbid kind of sense that did not decay. They merely ceased to function. It would have been a comfort under any other circumstance. To know that despite her passing, her body would not rot and decay but remain ever that little girl he had loved with all his heart.

But now, that only made the grim scene all the more disgusting and abhorrent. To him, it looked like she could have been breathing mere moments before. Minutes ago, she could have been jumping around as she always had been wont to do, filled with her usual boundless energy and love of life.

He knew better of course; she had been dead for years. But for a second...

Fire coursed in his veins, black anger burned in his bones and he felt as if his breath was coming out as acrid smoke as his throat constricted.

The grotesque scene flashed in his mind's eye despite his studious avoidance of looking at anything other than Rin. Internal organs, bone and muscle; all lay visible and out in the open as she lay motionless on the cold stone altar.

The joints in his hands cracked, as he realized he was gripping so hard that his fingers were going numb. That was no good; both gun and blade required a deft hand. He only had one bullet left; it wouldn't be enough for a single magus, let alone two. He remembered vaguely that he had left the sword in the car, so that was no good either.

Coming up beside him, Luvia seemed to notice the sudden tension in the air. She looked at the two Japanese magi with curious eyes, not quite understanding what was going on.

"Sherou, what is—" She began, but stopped as she saw his face. Rage flared through him, anger coiled his fists and his heart beat harder as his veins burned.

Shirou did not say anything, nor did he bother to face Luvia, but the look in his eyes spoke volumes of his agitation. Before Shirou's eyes, Rin seemed to finally began to recover from the shock and pull herself together.

No doubt she hadn't wanted him along just for this reason; had left him behind to keep him from finding out, from making trouble for her. Finding Illya like this... His right hand twitched as he thought about the gun on his hip again. He could do it. He still had the one bullet left; it would be easy. Quick. Perhaps just quick enough that she wouldn't be able to react, expecting him to explode in angry words; she had known him back when he was a hot-headed youth. Not as he was now.

He would have tried to talk, not simply act decisively, back then. Sought understanding, peace and reconciliation. Now he had waded knee-deep in the dead and dying, his hands colored red and stained with both his failures as well as his successes.

Time, failure and hardship had tempered him. Death, suffering and despair had finished the job and made him cold. Not like magi were; proud and conceited. No, his was a sharper serenity. A killer's mien that simply sought to end everyone who barred his way as he threw away pieces of himself to keep up to par. To sharpen a blade, you had to forcibly remove parts of it after all.

The hints of success, the rare smile, the sporadic tearful gratitude he sometimes received had kept him hungering for more, always ready and willing to dive right back into those hells. If he simply tried a _little harder_ ; acted a little more _decisively_ ; a little more _prudently_ and a little more _proactively_...

More and more had been whetted away as his continued to run along, blindly, desperately. As if addicted to the feeling, he continued to plunge back again, and again, and _again_. The he of now could do it.

His hand twitched, and the spell of the moment was broken as Rin had already recovered her cool. Her eyes hardened and suddenly Shirou felt like he was standing before a complete stranger. Everything about her remained as it had always been, but somehow her entirety changed. Perhaps she was merely mirroring his own stance, subconsciously.

"Ah, well this is rather unfortunate." Her voice came out calm and casual, as if the murderous intent in the air was a lie. "But I'm sure you understand, Emiya."

He ground his teeth but couldn't help asking, "Understand what?"

She affected a proud mien, turning to look at Luvia. The blonde, realizing her cue as it were, jumped to join the conversation. "Ah, I do not know what you think of necromancy, but it is an entirely legitimate branch of magecraft. Sherou, this homunculus is the child of the man who last inherited the crest Relchronos stole, with—"

"I know. She's _my sister_ , after all." Shirou ground out, his eyes still refusing to let go of Rin.

"...Oh." Luvia said simply. " _Oh_."

The church descended back into silence as Luvia took a metaphorical step out of the conversation, having all the wind taken out of her sails. Rin shrugged and nodded at the body behind her.

"She's necessary, if we want to wrest back control of the Emiya Crest. And we must, if we want to face Relchronos at all." Rin spoke simply, as if discussing how to most easily prepare dinner rather than how she had been cutting up the body of a little girl.

Luvia brightened at that, jumping back in. "Yes, that's right. If you're the heir of the Emiya I'm sure you would want to retrieve it all costs, right? When we take down Relchronos, I am sure that with that achievement you will be able to successfully petition for the restoration of your family crest!"

Rin winced at that, a tiny thing that even Shirou almost missed despite staring at her the whole time. He knew that tell; he had made enough faux pas during his time in the Clocktower alongside her to know what it meant. She didn't mind the words or the thought behind it; she merely felt it had been a tactical error in this conversation. She was treating this as a fight, as it were.

Had she changed so much in the few years they hadn't seen, he wondered. Had she been doing it all along? How many other times had she deceived him in the past, when he hadn't known to look for any tells? Shirou's eyes finally left Rin as he looked at Luvia.

"Like I give a damn about that."

The blonde was stunned and looked at Rin for cues as that what to say or do. But it didn't matter anymore. Shirou was no longer the hot-headed youth he had once been; he had already calmed down. The burning anger, the unyielding indignation, the overflowing wrath, now little more than a glowing core in his gut as he suppressed it.

If it was as they said; that it was a means to take down Relchronos the he understood why they had done it. The chill touch of apathy replaced the burning anger in his chest. He wanted to save those people and that meant stopping this out-of-control magus. The only thing that remained in him was the fact that he no longer recognized the woman standing before him.

"Alright."

That one word echoed in the church and both female magi looked at him without understanding. Giving each other a look, they shuffled uncertainly.

"You're…"

"I said, 'alright'. If it's to take down Relchronos, I'll not make it an issue." For now.

They had a means for defeating the heretic magus, which was more than he could say. If he could not bring about results, then he had no right to complain either. No matter how repulsed and angered by their means he was. They had stepped over a line he wasn't sure he ever could, but it was not one that he could bring himself to strike at them for.

This is what his maturity had taught him; on the battlefield, nothing is sacred. His hands were awash in enough blood that he had no ground to stand on when it came to lecturing people.

"So once you have whatever-that-is ready, I'll be ready to take you there. Assuming I'm not mistaken or that Relchronos hasn't fled, that should be the long and short of it." Shirou continued, affecting a detached professional interest in the matter. Nothing more, nothing less.

Luvia nodded and made a sound of acknowledgment, glancing at Rin who seemed to have frozen in place.

Rin swallowed nervously, not sure what to make of Shirou. This was entirely different from the man she remembered years ago. Partly she was relieved, but partly she was also saddened by how much Shirou had changed since they had last seen each other. This hadn't been how she had wanted things to go.

"I'm going back outside and inform Adrian." Shirou said, turning on his heel and leaving the church. He gave one last, almost unwilling look at Illya before his eyes shot away as he turned.

Behind him, the two magi looked at each other. Several silent moments passed as neither knew what to say, yet the minds of both racing for words.

"Why did you bring him here...?"

Luvia frowned at Rin's annoyed tone of voice. "He says he knows where Relchronos is; it only makes sense to team up with a reliable independent force instead of leaving him to rust on the sidelines.

"But more importantly, what the hell is going with you two? Why didn't you tell me about the homunculus?"

"Does it change anything?" Rin asked and Luvia looked like she wanted to say something, but Rin cut her off. "It doesn't, does it? Therefore we should simply concentrate on what matters and get this done with."

The Japanese magus turned her back to Luvia and walked back to the altar to continue with her work. Luvia frowned and looked back to the outer door, wondering what exactly she had managed to get herself involved in, now stuck between these two stubborn fools.

* * *

Shirou clenched his fists as he closed the large wooden door behind him. He took several deep breaths, making sure to exhale all the way. He threw away everything with those breaths, forcing himself to calm. His heart was still hammering in his chest, but he suppressed it with his continued controlling of his breathing.

Illya was dead and had been for years.

He walked down to the gate, where Adrian was still standing. For whatever reason, Luvia had forbidden the Enforcer from entering the church grounds. Perhaps they did not trust the Department of Policies, perhaps Adrian was a known factor to the two, perhaps necromancy or whatever they were doing was a forbidden art, perhaps they simply abhorred his taste in clothing.

It did not matter; Shirou was glad that the exchange had not been seen by the other. Perhaps he could pretend for a moment none of it had happened. That he could simply forget it and go back to concentrating on what needed to be done.

He was older now. More experienced and perhaps even a slight bit more mature than he had been all those years before. He could ignore his feelings and concentrate on what needed to be done; he could keep down the urge to throw up and keep himself from turning back to the church now.

Shirou took a deep breath, and at the exhale he threw away the last of all his emotions. His mind became as still as water, his heart empty like glass. Only the fire in his veins remained, but it could not touch him now.

This had changed nothing.

"How was it?" Adrian perked up at his approach. Shirou could see the tension in the other man and now perhaps he understood why the Enforcer had been so wary of the two mineralogy magi.

"They seem to have a plan. I don't know what it is, but they seem confident in it." Confident enough to desecrate a body, at least.

"...What kind of plan?"

Shirou merely shrugged, affecting nonchalance. For one, he didn't care to talk about it. For another, could he trust this Enforcer with anything sensitive? He had been poised to set Shirou against the two magi, perhaps for good reason seeing what their plan was now. But whatever reason the Enforcer had for distrusting them, he had not seen fit to share it with Shirou. Anyhow, Adrian did not need to know, so Shirou was content to not tell him anything.

"Something about breaking into a bounded field; we'll show the way once they're ready. No need to make this complicated." Shirou said as he made it to the car. He opened the door and found Caliburn inside, unmoved and unchanged.

Shirou doubted Adrian would have tried to take it and in any case it did not matter if he did. Still, forgetting a holy sword in the car would make him appear slightly careless. Or perhaps it made him seem confident enough that he did not care where the sword was despite its obvious value. Truthfully, he had simply forgotten it in the car, since it was a bother to constantly carry around.

He took the sword and drew it out, careful with the blade. Knowing that it could cut through the car with ease did not mean he had to show that to Adrian. Shirou peered at the sword, holding it with one hand on the hilt and another on the flat of the blade. The projection had not degraded at all since he had made it. He had been right after all. Or rather, he had been wrong all along.

His projections, as long as he made them in a manner that made sense would not vanish from the world regardless of what other people said of the matter. The red-haired man frowned, wondering how many years he had wasted with not using his abilities to their fullest extent.

He sighed and flourished the blade before closing his eyes in concentration.

"—trace _on_ ,"

The sheath that he had seen in those dreams alongside this sword appeared in his hands, accompanied by a leather belt. He thought about strapping it to his waist, as was usual with such swords, but it was unlike how he was used to carrying his arms. Rifles were carried across the back or held at the ready, so he had not experience with long sheaths at his hip.

He frowned at the belt, before shrugging and throwing it over his shoulder, almost like a baldric. The hilt of the golden sword poked over his right shoulder, ready to be grasped. Though drawing it would be cumbersome due to the nature of wearing a long sword on the back; its length exceeded his arms' length after all.

Still, he had means for that if it came down to using the holy sword.

Beside him, the Enforcer stood silently, stock still. Shirou thought his presence felt weird, so he turned to look at the man, noting his undisguised interest in the sheath he had produced. Though the moment Adrian noticed Shirou staring, he regained his control and affected neutral nonchalance at the whole affair.

"So... Uh, What happened in there? You came out looking ready to spit fire and chew rocks, with the way you were grinding your teeth." The Enforcer obviously wanted to shift attention away from something, as he seemed to struggle for words.

Shirou purposefully ignored the question, instead pretending to be busy scanning the surroundings dutifully. He was eyeing the houses around them, just in case something did happen, but he didn't feel like anyone was observing them. The bounded field around the church was not one that offered great protection, rather one that concealed the insides and masked them in the aura of the church itself.

The only reason they had found it, Shirou suspected, was due to the fact that they had used Luvia's odic force to track them down in the first place. As the field was made with the same odic force in conjunction with the sanctified boundary of the graveyard, it was the strongest source of the talisman to find.

Though, would it have worked if there had been a suitable Mana source for them to use? Leylines tended to color the area around them, thus it masking Luvia's odic force was not impossible. Shirou frowned as he closed his eyes; since he had begun to notice the oddities in the world since running into the bounded field some hours ago, his awareness had been spreading uncomfortably. It was as if the whole town had been dyed in some empty blackness, which now crawled and buzzed against his skin.

He shook his head, to clear his thoughts. But Adrian took this as a reply to his earlier question instead.

"I merely think that we should trust one another over those two. Even if you knew them previously, they have been playing the games of power at the tower for several years now. Undoubtedly their hands are stained and their interests aligned against yours, more than you know." Adrian continued and Shirou tried to ignore it, but found that he couldn't.

"...No, I think they haven't changed all that much." Shirou spoke, his unconscious urge to defend the two welling up despite his earlier anger. "People change with time, I know that. But even now, I feel like I made a mistake in the moment."

The image of the pale, albino girl he had loved like family floated in his mind for a moment. The smiling, hyper and boundless smile of her sister interposed for a moment over the cold corpse inside the church.

Perhaps if he hadn't unveiled his murderous intent at Rin, she might have explained to him her motivations. Perhaps he could have found it in himself to forgive her, perhaps he could have told himself it was what _she_ would have wanted. And perhaps that would have only made him angrier and would have made him lash out at her. No, ultimately this was for the best.

The anger in his veins continued to slowly pool into his gut, as he controlled his breathing; taking even longer and deeper breaths, to force that molten anger into cooling into a concentrated ball of ice in his core. The dead are gone and will never come back; the living must never put the dead before themselves.

Thus, his actions were correct. So why, why did he not feel any better despite knowing that? Adrian tried to ask something, but the cold look Shirou gave him disabused him of that notion in an instant.

The two magi stood there in tense silence as Shirou brooded.

* * *

It took another hour, until the church doors finally opened again. At the same time, the bounded field that Shirou could sense just at the fringes of his senses, vanished as if it had never been there in the first place. Unlike the bounded fields that Relchronos' put in place, there was not great explosion of collected air, no sigh of pent up Mana, no sudden expansion of the World back into the space where there could be nothing before.

One moment he thought there was something pressing against the hairs on his forearm, the next that slight sensation was simply _gone_.

They came out, carrying a small bundle wrapped in sanctified cloth. Not any true holy shroud, but still enough to cut out the bundle from sight and senses. Still, Shirou knew what it was from the way Rin carried it. Too light to be a body, one would think.

He had oft wondered at how light she had been, when she would run and jump to hug him, attempting to smother him in in her excitement and love. She had waved off his concerns with a smile, saying it was merely due to her homunculus nature. When he tried to make her eat more, she would pout and whine but still happily dig into his cooking until she looked as bloated as a balloon. Then she would complain about getting stomach aches and wonder how Fuji-nee put it all away, all the while looking as content as one can be in life...

Shirou shook his head and pushed away those memories. He did not react in any way visibly to their appearance, but as they approached he finally raised his voice. "Do you have a car? It's a little ways off."

Luvia nodded, pulling out a car key from her pocket and pressing a button. In response, a black land cruiser's lights blinked as the doors were unlocked.

"Did you bring a car of your own?" Luvia asked, looking around behind them. Shirou had moved the car they had come with into a suitably discreet spot, where if need be they could drive off as quickly as possible. But unless she had memorized all the cars parked outside beforehand, there was no way for her to know.

But it was a far worse car, he could tell. There was no merit in bringing it along.

"Yes, but it is of no consequence. Your vehicle shall suffice." Adrian spoke, clearly finding the larger car the Edelfelt had procured more to his liking.

Luvia looked at Shirou, before nodding and throwing him the keys. He caught them, and the motion managed to bring her attention to the sword hilt sticking out over his shoulder. She frowned at the sword, before realizing its potency and looking at Shirou again with wide-eyes. Then her eyes shot back to Rin, who merely noticed the sword but did not give it any further thought as she seemed to be studiously avoiding looking at Shirou as she carried the bundle.

"You knew...?" Luvia whispered, harshly, glancing back at Shirou. Rin offered a non-committal shrug and turned to walk to the car instead.

Seeing as how no answers were forthcoming, Luvia merely gave an annoyed huff before eying Shirou speculatively, as if weighing how easy it would be to get her hands on him, the sword or the means by which he had procured the phantasm for himself.

Shirou ignored them as he jumped into the car, frowning at the lack of leg space with a glance at Luvia and then re-adjusting the seat to fit him better. Taking off the sword, he set it against the door like previously.

"Get in." He said, closing the door. Luvia took the front seat while the two others loaded up in the back after setting the clothed bundle in the rear. The car came to life at the press of a button and Shirou had to admire the quality of both the car and the level of maintenance that had been used on it; the car felt absolutely perfect as he rolled out of the parking spot.

For a moment, he thought about driving straight to the house but then he re-considered. Aside from the knowledge of where Relchronos was hiding and a supposed trick to take down his bounded field, they had no actual plan in place.

"I'm going to drive us to a spot where we can see the house from a distance. Let's make a proper plan there." Shirou said and no one objected.

Driving to a spot higher up, where they could see the houses clearly without any obstructions, the mood in the vehicle was awkward at best. They had all grouped up due to Shirou, but now that he had begun to avoid Rin that trust was growing rocky. What remained was the inherent distrust of magi, existing between Adrian and the two women.

Adding in that despite their cooperation, Rin and Luvia did not get along at even the best of times, and the end-result was a team for whom it would not be out of place to say that group synergy was zero.

Of course, as magi that meant very little. Shaky relationships and treacherous pacts were the lifeblood of the Clocktower, which kept the gears moving in the hallowed and dusty halls of the ancient organization decade after decade.

They would suspect one another, never turn their backs to each other and plot with abandon. But as long as they had a common goal and no reason to discard one another, they would stick together. That was what it meant to be a magus.

Shirou pulled to a stop and nodded for them to exit the car. As all of them stepped out, Shirou made sure to extra carefully scan their surroundings. With a deep breath that hardened the still molten orb in his gut, he turned to Rin.

"We might have to be here a while and being found by anyone could prove disastrous. Can you put up another bounded field to hide us?" Shirou said and Rin appeared somewhat hesitant for a moment, as if she hadn't expected him to talk to her at all. She blinked and then nodded, giving a glance to Luvia as if to say 'you help out as well' to her.

The two female magi raised their hands and for a moment, the two crests shone with an unnatural light. They chanted for less than ten seconds, before a strange sensation washed over Shirou's skin. Like being submerged only to pop right back out; jumping into the waters before coming up dry and above the surface. What made it especially peculiar was the dual nature of the sensation. He realized that both of them had raised a field by themselves, so that one was covering the other.

It had felt like there were two distinct liquids, like a layer of oil floated above the water and giving him a momentary sensation of _slipperyness_ followed by a second wave of a lighter liquid. Not quite water, but close to it.

"Is there any purpose in placing an attention-deflecting weave, if you already placed an invisibility field?" Adrian asked, sounding just as stand-offish as he had originally towards Shirou.

"Of course. What is the point of being invisible if someone simply walks straight into you? It works on familiars as well. Then again, placing two bounded fields on the same location must be so beyond your abilities that you have never had cause to consider the effects, I'm sure." Luvia replied with deliberate off-handedness, as if to make sure that _for her_ it was no challenge at all.

"Tch."

"Enough. We don't know what kind of time-table Hermit is operating under, so we don't have time to waste." Shirou chastised both of them and while both glared at him, they remained quiet. Noting that they were listening to him, Shirou pointed at a house in particular some 300 meters away. "That's the house, with the red tile roof next to the one with the flat, black roof."

Adrian had already seen the house, up close, so he did not bother to look as instead he pretended to keep an eye on their surroundings. Rin and Luvia however peered at the place Shirou pointed to, raising their hands as if to block the glare of the sun and squinting at the house.

"I though you said you would take us close enough to observe..." Rin peered, giving Shirou a momentary glare of annoyance.

He blinked at that, before considering the distance. It wasn't _that much_ , was it? Outwardly he said, "Reinforce your eyes if you have to, this is as close as we'll go before we have a plan."

Luvia gave him a flat look, before closing her eyes. He noticed with approval that her self- _Reinforcement_ was a Single Action spell, as it should be. It took some training to master, but was essential given the usefulness of the spell.

"Are you certain? I don't see anything there... I mean, it's big, but..." Luvia muttered, turning her head left and right instead of looking at the house in question. "Nothing at least that sets it apart from any of the other houses."

"It's under a bounded field." Shirou explained.

"...While it is true that any half-decent bounded field would make it nigh-on impossible to detect his presence, that does pose the question of how do _you_ then know that he is there?" Luvia asked, crossing her arms with a frown.

Shirou opened his mouth but closed it again as he tried to think of a way to explain. The house simply felt different, unnatural, ephemeral and yet _heavy_ somehow. It was somewhat similar to how the other bounded fields, scattered around the town felt but not quite the same. Perhaps if he explained his reasoning for searching that area in the first place...?

He shook his head. No, a demonstration would be more apt. He had chosen this location for more than one reason, after all.

"Alright, Adrian did we come by here earlier?" Shirou looked at the Enforcer, who had been quietly observing them.

"Huh, what?" He looked startled to be called upon suddenly. But then he shook his head as Luvia and Shirou stared at him. "Uh, no. I don't think so."

"You were with me the whole time I was in town earlier, right?" Shirou asked Luvia and she nodded, if somewhat hesitantly as she did not see where he was going with this. "And since I was at the camp since we separated, I shouldn't have had time to come here to check things out _right here_ , specifically. Right?"

"Certainly, if you say so I have no reason to doubt it." Luvia nodded and Shirou nodded back, as he pointed to the south, where nothing of consequence seemed to exist.

"Watch." Shirou said, picking up a pebble. He weighed it in his hand and then put it aside, and picked up a larger rock. Finding its heft satisfactory, he turned and cupped it in his hand as his body coiled like a baseball player readying their pitch.

His hand whipped out as all the movement, starting from his legs and hips, coalesced into turning the rock into a missile that flew straight and true. Only to stop after flying thirty meters.

Someone gasped in surprise behind him, but Shirou couldn't tell who. He turned around with a smirk; the rock had stopped in mid-air as if someone invisible had caught it. Just as he had known it would, the rock had gotten stuck into the time stagnation bounded field on the sidewalk. Unlike the other ones, this one merely slowed down the rock so much that it continued to fly in extreme slow-motion. Already it had advanced a few inches into the field.

"I can't really explain it, but those things stand out like a flame in the dark to me." Shirou said shrugging.

Luvia was looking at him wide-eyed while Adrian was keeping a decidedly neutral expression on his face. As for Rin, as Shirou glanced at her, there seemed to be realization and dawning understanding in those eyes, like the pieces of a puzzle she had been working on falling place after she had been pondering over it for years on and off.

But as he looked at her, she noticed his gaze and hastily wiped her face clean of any inner emotions and affected her usual self.

"There's no reason to suspect Shirou, he's not the type to lay complicated ambushes. We will simply have to plan for the possibility that it is a trap left for us by Hermit and go by Shirou's words." Rin said, breaking eye-contact and turning to speak to the other two.

Luvia looked at her askance, glancing at Shirou before sighing and nodding. Whatever it was that was bothering her would have to wait.

They settled down and began to discuss a course of action. Shirou had memorized the outer layout of the building and provided a rough drawing on the ground—though his use of Caliburn, to etch lines into the pavement which drew some queer looks that he ignored completely—as they hypothesized and deliberated.

In the span of time that Relchronos had had in town, what level of preparations could he have made? Could he have owned the house from before? Would the size inside match the outside, or was the flow of time inside skewed in some fashion? Were there any alarms or tripwires outside the building? Inside? What of familiars? Had they seen any horrors or other, more traditional familiars?

Were they walking into a hastily prepared bolthole or a fully stocked and prepared Workshop? Or was it merely another distraction like they assumed all the other bounded fields around town were? Shirou assured them that no other bounded field that he had sensed was located on top of a building, or so precisely formed; it filled the insides of the house, ending halfway in the outer walls.

Shirou explained that he could simply sense the field itself but not gleam any particular information of it beyond the outer dimensions and that as far as he could tell the area surrounding the house was utterly abandoned. He had seen some broken doors and smelled some stale blood, but no fresh signs of the horrors were to be had.

Finally, a rough course of action was decided upon.

Shirou, Adrian and Luvia would form a breaching party, while Rin would handle her new _mystic code_ to allow them entry into the bounded field. When Adrian had questioned the efficacy of her mystic code, for a moment she had seemed to swell with pride. But with a mere glance of Shirou she had completely deflated, realizing that it was not the time for boasting.

Rin would open up an entrance in the bounded field, prioritizing stealth over speed, but making sure to keep it open in case of sudden retreat. In the worst case scenario, she would be tasked with throwing all of what remained of her jewels inside the bounded field and then legging it to regroup.

Shirou volunteered to take point, and due to his ability to sense things that the others could not and his sword no one protested. Second would come Luvia, capable enough in both close-range battle as well as in supporting from the rear, she could handle the center. Rearmost, guarding their backs would be Adrian.

Once discussions reached a close, they dispelled the bounded field they had set up and had returned to the car. No words were exchanged, as everyone knew their place. Rather than being called an awkward silence, it would be more apt to call it an expectant solemness now.

The car stopped, but no one moved to leave. Shirou had stopped a good thirty meters from the house itself, despite there being plenty of parking space in front of the house. Leaving it parked so he could drive it off directly without having to worry about backing out or turning, he did not even bother pulling the handbrake as he turned off the engine. The first gear would have to do; each and every second could matter when it came to a hasty retreat.

"Alright." Luvia spoke first. "Let's go."

They exited the car, Shirou naturally taking point. He slung the sword onto his back once more and stretched his neck. While reason dictated that he keep the sword drawn and at hand, especially since he was taking the front-most position which was also naturally the most perilous one, he still kept it on his back.

There was meaning behind keeping the sword sheathed on his back. For one, anyone who saw it would undoubtedly be cautious of it. But, by presenting that weakness of saying 'see, I wear it on my back, where I cannot draw it quickly' he would naturally draw all the attention to himself as a high priority target with their guard down. Once it came down to wielding the sword, well, that would be then. For Emiya Shirou, taking the most risky position and drawing the initial hostility to himself was the right course of action.

The reason they hadn't approached by car was because by foot they—being the three magi other than Shirou, who had to be content with simply keeping his eyes open—could properly apply their mysteries and sense anything out of the ordinary.

Perhaps due to the caution and the tension of the moment, crossing that last stretch felt like it took much longer than it would have normally. They walked at a normal pace, merely keeping their senses peeled and their circuits ready, but it felt to all of them as if each step felt very sluggish. As if wading through molasses, their each step felt like it took effort beyond what it ought.

Finally, arriving at the front door of the house they stopped. They had considered other entrances; a window, the backdoor or even knocking down a wall. But ultimately they had decided that since they had no idea what to expect on the inside and only hoping that they would not be expected, that the front entrance on the outside would probably correspond to the front entrance of the inside.

Beside him, Shirou noted that Adrian was fidgeting. Unlike Luvia and Rin who appeared resolute and ready, the Enforcer seemed to be having second thoughts. Shirou thought about giving some words of encouragement, but seeing as when Adrian noticed his gaze and sharpened up, Shirou simply shrugged and let him be.

Rin took a deep breath, as she set down the bundle she had been carrying. Shirou pointedly looked away, as much to keep an eye on their surroundings as to avoid looking at the wrap of cloth,

"What is that?" Adrian asked, clearly puzzled.

Rin did not say anything, as she slowly revealed the contents. Shirou could hear to rustling of cloth followed by a surprised gasp from the Enforcer. In his gut the molten ball churned slowly as it expanded suddenly before contracting again under his control, as if it were the heart of some great beast. He clenched his teeth and took a deep breath through his nose.

"Why... What is the meaning of this?"

"This is the last true child of the Emiya's," Luvia spoke simply and Shirou could feel a gaze on his back. Probably Adrian staring at him questioningly. "and together with Rin we have developed a means to... ah, shall we say, 'usurp' the Emiya crest back from Relchronos."

"...Usurp, you say." The doubt was evident, even from the Enforcer's voice alone.

"Enough." Shirou said, with a tone of voice that brokered no argument. "We're on a schedule here; save the meaningless prattle for another time."

He could feel the sullen silence, the unvoiced objections and wondered whether this 'team' truly could work together. None of them truly trusted one another any more. He shook his head; it was meaningless. Even if they were all to attempt stabbing him in the back, he would still go. Stopping the source of this conflict took highest priority, before even more people died meaningless and grizzly deaths.

He stretched his arms and rolled his shoulders and wrists, making sure to warm up and stretch properly. He hadn't used a sword in a long time before the past few days, so he needed to make sure that his physical condition was at its peak.

Finally, after a minute which felt like ten, Rin spoke behind him. "It's done. It doesn't feel like it will be hard to hold this opening up, but who knows what will happen when he notices it."

Shirou turned around and put his hand on the doorknob, taking one last glance at the three next to him. His eyes landed for a moment on Illya and he felt his heart ache at the sight of her. It looked almost like she were still alive, as if her lungs yet drew breath.

Shirou broke away his eyes from her forcefully and looked at the door, as if willing it to burn.

He thought that once this was done, he would demand the body back so that he could return it properly. It should have been turned to ashes years ago, as was custom. But someone had intervened, he realized. He would have to look into that later; it wasn't what he had been told before.

He would make sure to handle it properly this time. With that declaration to himself, he turned the knob and opened the door.

* * *

Rin let out her breath, as the tension in the air passed as the others entered the house.

She hadn't been the only one to sense it, she knew. Everyone was nervous, feeling it. Everyone except the source himself that is. With the trio's entering of the hostile bounded field, she wondered whether Luvia worried for herself or felt reassured that she was standing behind Shirou. Once he let out all that which he was bundling up inside him, it would be a thing of spectacular terror, no doubt.

She for a moment wondered, whether there hadn't been some other way, but shook that thought aside. The damage was done and could not be undone. Perhaps with time, her relationship with Shirou could be mended. But perhaps it wouldn't; it didn't truly matter to the magus known as Tohsaka Rin.

Or that's what she told herself anyhow.

She looked at the still form next to her and felt like cursing the little brat again. It wasn't like it was Rin who had stolen the body and hypnotized the Fujimuras to leave Shirou grieving at an urn filled with the ashes that weren't his sister.

No, that had been the Einzbern's doing. Reclaiming the grail, they said, was their duty. Sure, she had suspected as much when she had contacted them in hopes of acquiring her body and she had been proven right when they agreed. Everything relating to the construction of the lesser grail had been removed from the little girl's corpse, leaving little behind a half empty container that was of little use to the Einzberns.

It was not like them to recycle or anything, but they were not ones to throw away excellent specimens either.

Acquiring her hadn't been easy, but as _old allies_ the Einzbern apparently made the exception for her. Accepting a geas for the Tohsaka to not take any hostile action against the Einzbern in the next Holy Grail War, it seemed like those old foggies still had not given up. It didn't matter; she had found out about the true nature of _that thing_ already. She wanted no part of it and neither would any of her offspring as far as she was concerned.

Rin sighed and closed her eyes; the bounded field inside the house had not changed. It could mean anything, but she took it to mean that her plan was working flawlessly. The other options did not bear thinking about.

Perhaps there were other ways she could have found a way to strike at Relchronos, she mused. But as she had been struck by _inspiration_ , she had worked tirelessly to acquire the body laying on the ground next to her.

Simply put, magic crests were curses that wished to propagate themselves. Similarly to how one could usurp control of a masterless bounded field with the right means, one could also attract the 'attention' of a crest if one could provide it with a suitable host. Of course, this required the crest to be without an owner and for there to be a supremely compatible host at hand. Crests were finicky and temperamental things at the best of times and this was hardly such a moment.

The Einzbern had ransacked Illyasviel's body for all their secrets' worth, but just as she was half homunculus she was also half human. Her father had been Emiya Kiritsugu, the heir and carrier of what had been released of the Emiya crest. This she had judged would go far in enticing a Crest, especially since it had been sealed away for so long.

Prodigious magical capacity, magic circuits beyond the pale, the pure unbroken bloodline of the Emiya in her veins. All of these things made her a stupendously attractive 'heir' for the crest. As long as Illya was alive, that is.

She had never delved into necromancy, but she knew enough to know that the theory was sound. Her prodigious skill was also quite useful in turning that long-shot plan into reality. Useful in 'reviving' Illyasviel von Einzbern. At least enough to fool the crest momentarily. Thus, as 'Illyasviel von Einzbern' she could touch and directly work the bounded field which she could not even sense despite standing right next to.

That's right. It required all that effort and tools for her to be able to even engage with the bounded field.

Which made it peculiar that Shirou could sense it naturally, as if it were a matter of course. Despite having some of the lowest talent for magecraft she had yet seen along with senses so dull for magical energy as to be labeled as half-blind-and-deaf, that Shirou still could point out those bounded fields as if it were easy. Like a "flame in the dark", he had said.

The other two had no idea what to make of it. But that was because they did not know what she did. They saw only the sword, not the means with which he had made it. But she had seen it years ago first hand and seen him do it with other things only yesterday.

She had thought it a fluke back then; a happy accident of his contract with Saber, like the prodigious healing and his superb ability to work together with the heroic spirit of the sword. Once she had gone, his ability to Project such fantastical things had seemed to vanish like smoke.

No, perhaps they had vanished because that was around the time she began to hammer in lessons of magecraft into him. 'Projections could not exist for long periods of time, for they are illusions which violate the World', 'you cannot project something that is greater than yourself' and 'compared to Reinforcement, which works on things already here, Projection is an incomplete mystery which is merely costly and transient'.

She had told him such things and more. Hammered them into his skull, under the guise of making him into a proper magus. But she had been wrong. Or rather, she _had_ been right when she thought he had been using something else entirely.

A reality marble. That was the reason for Emiya Norikata being designated for sealing.

Perhaps it had been something he had achieved and had accidentally revealed or perhaps it was something one of his ancestors achieved and stored in their Crest. Time Manipulation definitely was an impressive mystery, but by itself it would not be worthy of notice much less a sealing designation.

Nonetheless, it was successfully engraved into the magic crest of the Emiya and subsequently had been sealed for study upon his death. She did not know what kind of mysteries Emiya Kiritsugu who had survived and been given a portion of the crest used, but she had a feeling it would be related to bounded fields which manipulate the flow of time.

Time dilation was certainly possible with some preparation—and ironically enough, spare time—but not in such quantities and rapidity as was present in this town. The extent of which she had seen here was certainly impressive, something which she could not see possible to create if it were not for some extenuating factor. A factor such as an innate bounded field.

If such a bounded field were to be hidden so well as to even completely elude her, there would be only one way she could understand Shirou being able to detect it.

Emiya Shirou possessed a budding reality marble of his own. Possessing an innate bounded field, he would have an innate understanding of the way it functions that surpasses even old and learned experts of bounded fields. Thus, sensing something of it which neither she nor Relchronos nor anyone else could possibly understand, Shirou was able to find his way here.

That was the only explanation she could think of.

Rin sighed again. That was where the problem lay; once this was all over, there would no doubt be consequences for Shirou. Even if he did not know it, even if no one else suspected it yet, undoubtedly his innate bounded field would be revealed and he would be designated for a sealing.

Thus, there lay a choice before her; to hide Shirou or to turn him in.

As a magus, the choice was easy. Just as easy as it was to use Illyasviel to corner Relchronos. If she were to try and ignore Shirou, once he was found out it would no doubt be traced all the way back to her. No doubt there would be questions of why she had not noticed anything before; how had she managed to let someone like him slip past her fingers for so many years?

And if she turned him in, there would be a wealth of benefits to be gained. Political goodwill, resources and connections could be gained. As the discoverer of this unusual specimen, she would exercise great power over his being.

She could even protect him, keep him happy and alive despite his sealing. She could— _As if_.

To seal him would be to completely betray his trust, or what little remained of it anyhow. But to protect herself if she were to ignore his existence would require her to actively cover up for him lest he be discovered.

She felt extremely weary, all of a sudden. She wondered when she had begun to feel this way; when she had ceased to see magecraft as a wonder and a joy, but as a mere chore and duty.

Her thoughts were cut off all of a sudden as a sudden surge went through, her _mystic code_ which she had connected herself to with her Crest.

"Huh—" She had barely time to make a sound of surprise, before the door that had been left open slammed shut and she felt her control over the bounded field vanish. She started, before hesitating. Illyasviel's body would not move and had not been damaged, so she decided to try and rush in after Shirou to warn him.

But as she kicked open the door, the hallway that greeted her was completely different from the one she had seen moments before. It looked, smelled and appeared identical, but was wholly different. This was the inside of the house as it should be, not as where Relchronos had secluded himself inside.

The realization made her stomach drop; Shirou and the rest were trapped inside and had no way of getting out.

* * *

Shirou had entered taking point, with Luvia following three meters behind him. Close enough to give back up in case of a confrontation, but far enough away to react to anything that outright killed him with time defend herself.

The house appeared fairly normal, aside from the pervasive darkness inside and the overwhelming thickness of magical energy in the air. It felt like entering inside a living beast, the sheer unharnessed force in the air making it feel like the floor beneath them was vibrating and the walls were contracting and expanding, like the insides of some great beast's heart.

They walked on, nonetheless. Silently, carefully, but determined to move onward.

Shirou peered around corners, frowning at the furniture and the little knick-knacks here and there, presenting a common enough appearance of a perfectly average household. To put it simply, the inside matched the outside entirely. At any other time this would have been perfectly normal, yet for a magus' workshop and supposed hidden fortress...

It did not fit.

It spoke of either overwhelming confidence or a complete lack of care for the location. Was Relchronos' even here? Why did he not bother to even put the most basic of protections around? Did he have that much trust in the bounded field? Shirou did not understand, but as he arrived at the end of the hallway from the kitchen into what must be the living room, he felt more and more unnerved by it all.

"Welcome." The voice spoke from the room ahead, even before he could take a peek around the corner. They all froze at the word; knowing that it could only mean one thing. That they had been spotted and were as good as mice in a box, now that the master of the workshop was aware of their presence.

Within the workshop of a magus, one was quite literally in a domain of their creation. Furthermore, the very act of treading inside one was as good as a declaration of war, after which no mercy could be expected.

As they had been discovered, they were truly and utterly in his power here.

Shirou grit his teeth and walked out, behind him Luvia tried to reach out and stop him but was unable to make it in time. This was why he had agreed to take point; to face the dangers head on so that the others would have enough time and opportunity to figure out how to remedy any situation.

He came face to face, perhaps nine meters apart, with an old man. Shirou hadn't received any profiles or descriptions of the man, but somehow he guessed this was the man they had been looking for all along.

Between them was a sofa, a table and several recliners. To the side of them was a television and behind the man stood a piano, covered in a doily and several family photos. He was in none of them; that was a good sign, Shirou thought. If this was a recent base of operations for the magus, then there would be relatively few security measures in place. However what stood out most to Shirou, was the magnificent lance propped up in the middle of a great magical circle that glowed with arcane power behind the magus.

He swallowed as he wondered at the weapon. He had never seen it before, but he knew what it was at once. He broke his eyes away from the lance to look at the man. They made eye-contact.

"Relchronos de la Torre, I presume." Shirou spoke, calmly, ignoring the two around the corner who were still deliberating as what to do.

"Oh—hoo... I am impressed. I had thought that I had uprooted all traces of my past, yet I am recognized time and time again. How peculiar. And you might be?" The bearing of the man reminded Shirou a great deal of the aristocracy of the Clocktower, of what little he had had contact with that high and mighty lot. Straight of back, stiff of upper lip and cold piercing eyes that stared at him down the length of his nose.

Shirou gauged the distance. Nine meters would be difficult even with a clear ground; with all the furniture there was no way that he could rush in and cut down the magus if it came down to it. He needed to get closer. Seven meters would do against a single action spell, assuming no other safety measures were in place. Of course, that was a fool's bet against a magus as old as the one who stood before Shirou.

"...Emiya Shirou." He replied after a moment of hesitation. Relchronos went utterly silent and still at his name, eyes widening ever so slightly. Wishing to cut off any misconceptions at the bud, Shirou spoke before the other man could. "Adopted."

This only caused the man to be further nonplussed, as he stared at the Japanese magus. Finally, with a frown the man seemed to shrug off whatever it was that had halted him so.

"How portentous." He said, simply, before turning to the wall as if he could see right through it. Perhaps he very well could, it was within his workshop after all. No, Shirou could tell his eyes weren't focusing on anything, especially on neither of the two. That meant that he couldn't sense anyone inside the house, or at least not their specific location. Probably. "And the rest of your party? Normally, I do not take very well to trespassers... Yet you are the first to do so with the courtesy of at least not breaking down my entire bounded field. In comparison to many others, you are quite polite. For what measure of politeness one can expected from unwanted intruders."

Shirou blinked, not sure if that was a jibe at him or someone else entirely. Had Relchronos' been watching him, seeing how he had used the holy sword to break the bounded field around the camp? Or had he already fought with someone else before their arrival?

Luvia stepped forward, perhaps having resolved herself to the situation she did not wish to behave in a manner unfitting the Edelfelt family. Adrian stepped forward a few seconds later, as if unwilling yet cowed by the decision of the rest of the group.

Relchronos seemed to light up at the blonde Finn, as if having expected her. "Miss Edelfelt. How fortunate of you to make it as well. We have not met before, but I have heard good things of your struggles under the Wizard Marshall. —I take it that it would be Miss Tohsaka who is standing outside my door, this very moment as well?"

Luvia, who had been about to introduce herself, could only close her mouth with an audible click. The look of annoyance that flashed in her eyes was not missed by the old magus who chuckled mirthfully at her.

"I must say, you almost managed to steal away my prize beneath my very hands. Yet, you underestimated the depths of my mastery; I have toiled over this Crest long before either of you had even been born." The magus chuckled some more.

Shirou looked away from the man, to gaze at the lance once more. It was behind him, over at least ten or eleven meters away from Shirou. Something about the lance did not feel right, but he could not place his finger on it. Perhaps it was simply its nature that confused him. But at the very least, he could say that the old man had not used it for anything.

...Yet somehow, despite being certain of that, he felt like he was missing something. But he tore his gaze back to the magus, lest he be discovered looking around.

"—thus, I recommend that you give yourself up. You have nowhere to run and it is only a matter of time before the rest of the Clocktower's punitive force arrives; we have already informed them of your location prior to our own arrival." Luvia spoke and Shirou realized that she was negotiating as he focused on the conversation again. Or rather, handing him an ultimatum despite being in his grasp this very moment.

"' _Only a matter of time_ ' is it...?" The magus seemed more amused than anything else, though not in the sense that he did not believe her. "You are more right than you know, young Edelfelt. Though, that will not avail you here, I'm afraid."

"They're already working together with Arcueid Brunestud, you've no chance of defeating her once you've been found. You shoul—" Luvia continued, her tempo picking up as if sensing a rising danger to her if she could not talk him down here. But, she was cut short by him.

With a wave of his hand, Luvia froze in place. She did not merely stop talking, her entire body seemed to have been turned to stone in an instant. Yet Shirou understood, that this was no petrification magic.

"Fret not, I am entirely aware." He said, with a chuckle. "But you needn't worry. When you say it is only a matter of time, you are right after all. I am he who winds the clock; if it is time I need then it is time I shall have.

"With your rather unexpected—and might I add, unwelcome—appearance, I am forced to cut short my experiment for today. Still, that does leave me with a rather sizeable supply of magical energy that I suddenly have no use for." He made an elaborate shrug, smirking as he shook his head. "I do not need all too much to return, so I have plenty to work with. Or rather, plenty to work out. _Stress_ , that is."

The old magus shook his head and sighed, as if lamenting to himself over his misfortune.

Shirou took a step back away from Luvia as he reeled in shock. He could sense perfectly how easily Relchronos had initiated and cast that spell; it had been a bare single action on his part to enact a bounded field that could have stopped a freight train instantly.

He swallowed nervously as realization struck him. Against something like this, he could do nothing. Any action he took, within this bounded field could be instantly and easily nullified. No, not nullified. Rather, put on pause indefinitely.

So this was the power of a Grand, Shirou realized. They had come woefully unprepared.

"First and foremost, I must learn how you lot managed to find me. It will do me no good if I repeat everything, only to stumble on the same _pebble_ on the road yet again." Relchronos made small smile, as if chastising himself for making that mistake in the first place.

His words only served to further confuse the two younger magi and Shirou was certain that had Luvia been _present_ she would not have understood it any more than they did.

"Emiya, was it? No matter. And hmm... Who might you be? No one of consequence, I suspect." He looked at Shirou and Adrian in turn, sizing them up as if they were poultry to be plucked for dinner.

Shirou turned a hesitant look at Luvia, too wound up to even take a step as he knew that the moment he did he would be encased in a magical snare just as Luvia had been, and trapped in time. It was then, that he spotted the item. Lying in the corner of the room on the floor as if someone had simply dropped it and not bothered to pick it up.

It was something utterly mundane and yet something so utterly out of place that it naturally caught his eye. Even if this were not a mad magus' workshop, it would have been a peculiar thing, but with his presence it only served to utterly confuse him.

 _Why is the old man's gun here?_ Was what he first wondered, but as his eyes naturally drank in the sight there was another realization.

The structural composition of most items were naturally understood by him at sight, especially if they were weapons. Doubly so if he had already used his Structural Analysis on them or similar items beforehand.

Thus he understood, that this _was_ and _was not_ the same weapon that he had handled the previous night. He could not understand how that was possible, until suddenly it clicked and he perceived the truth of the matter.

He turned to face Relchronos.

No, not towards the old magus posturing at them. The Holy Lance behind him. The words came out of his mouth naturally, as if they had only been waiting for him to lower his guard but for a moment so that they could spring forth. "Rhongomyniad."

"What—How?" The look on the old magus face was of utter confusion. The man blinked, not understanding the word Shirou had uttered. A mere second passed, but this second was more than enough for Shirou to steel himself as his perception of time slowed down to a crawl, his mind racing at the implications.

He had thought that even if they failed, the Clocktower could handle the rest.

He had thought that this man before him was merely a madman seeking to further his craft, like so many others Shirou had run into.

He had thought that even if he failed here, there was a chance that no more people would be hurt due to this previous actions.

But he understood and knew better, now. He understood and the taste of bile threatened to spread in his mouth, as he held back his anger. This tragedy has happened not once, but many times, counting even beyond his ability to gleam. The reason why Luvia and Rin had been sent here must have to do with this matter, he certain of that now.

But what could he do? Already Shirou could see the intent to neutralize them all forming in the old man's eyes. A second from now, he would be as good as a statue, frozen to the world. Helpless. Useless. Unable to save anyone.

No, that's not right. It couldn't be right, he had to think of a way. What did he possess? What could he do?

The gun? No. A single bullet would not be able to take down a magus. Perhaps if he lined up a perfect headshot, passing through the eye and destroying the brain in a single hit... But no, that would take too much time to get a perfect shot. By the time he had a bead, his trigger finger would already be unable to complete the pull. Even enchanted as it was, a 9mm bullet was not a reliable enough a cartridge to ensure an instant kill.

But he could quick-draw and fire that single shot from the hip with some accuracy. It could serve as a distraction, perhaps.

But that would not prevent his own elimination an instant later. He couldn't rely on Adrian here; the would-be-Enforcer's instincts were simply too dull and their teamwork was not on a level where it would work against a magus inside his own workshop.

Besides, Feyn-Mallard had utterly frozen in place. Someone who had been paralyzed in fear was of no use.

But just as he dismissed Adrian Feyn-Mallard as a partner, so too must have Relchronos de la Torre dismissed him as a threat. Yes, Shirou could see it in the way he was completely focused on Shirou and ignoring the other man entirely this instant.

Therefore, if Shirou could get Adrian's head back into the game, there would be an instant where a reversal would be possible.

A plan was beginning to form in Shirou's head, despite the fact that he knew his oblivion lay a mere half-second into the future. If only he could surpass that first hurdle, he lamented. On his back, the weight of the sword rested comfortably. As if saying, _you can do it_ and telling him not to give up, the holy sword seemed to possess a presence of its own against his mind.

He had no ideas, but he could already feel the self-imposed veil of eternity on the moment slipping. There was no more time, not for deliberation nor second thoughts. He could only act and hope for the best.

Time snapped back into play.

"Tsk, " The magus made a sound of disapproval, as if saying he would handle Shirou later. Already, the pressing sensation of nothingness was approaching and Shirou exploded into motion.

Right hand went to hip, drawing the gun and in one motion turned off the safety and fired a bullet from the hip.

Left hand want over his right shoulder, finding the golden-blue hilt which seemed to have been waiting for him, singing at his touch as he swung down the sword down from his right shoulder with force that could cleave through an anvil.

An explosion of sound, a flash of light, a sensation of something being _cut down_.

"Omph...!" An unknown voice cried out in pain and for a moment Shirou wondered whether it was himself.

Shirou did not know from which hand which sound or flash came or if the sensations merely overlapped so perfectly that it was impossible to tell in that instant of motion. But next he knew, he held Caliburn in his left hand and Relchronos was holding his gut where a sizable bloodstain was spreading.

In his hands, Caliburn shone like thirty torches as if to say _this man will not fall so long he grasps me_.

He couldn't tell who was more surprised, himself or Relchronos. At the bug-eyed look in Relchronos' eyes, Shirou almost let out a nervous chuckle before he realized the seriousness of the situation.

"The- The _Sword of Selection_?!"

It was Shirou's turn to gape at _how_ Relchronos could possibly know that, but he refused to let it halt him. Dropping the pistol, Shirou grabbed Adrian and pulled both behind the concealment of the corner they had come around a moment earlier. Whatever it was that the old magus did, it seemed to work on line-of-sight.

Turning the corner, he pumped his feet as fast as he could as he pulled the Enforcer behind him. He could not stay here. Leaving Luvia behind was regrettable, but he could do nothing for her at this moment; he could only hope she would be okay.

Shirou still had no idea what he had done to block the Single Action spell, but chalked it up to the sword. This was the exact reason why he had worn it on his back. Commonly speaking, a sword on the back cannot be drawn unless it is an uncommonly short blade. Thus, it should have been a foolish choice. But as the sheath and belt both were mere projections and at his whims to _dispel_ , this fatal flaw turned into a great advantage.

The art of the quick-draw with the sword was an uncommon one around the world, but Shirou could with definite certainty say that if he held the sword at either the high guard as if with the back sheath or at the hip as if with a regular sheath, then the former would definitely deliver both a stronger and a faster blow.

As he thought these self-congratulatory thoughts, Shirou wondered whether the stress of the moment was getting to him. Stray thoughts in battle were tantamount to death, yet here he was doing so nonetheless.

He shook his head, replaying the moment in his head as best he could. He could not very well look back out around the corner as he had already run down the hall and dragged Adrian with him. He could feel the bounded field of time stagnation being cast behind him, where he would have been standing had he remained still.

That settled it; line of sight only. And no method for finer sensing.

It was the bullet he had shot which had exploded a meter away from Relchronos, of that Shirou was certain even as he had been half-blinded by the burning light borne of the swing of his sword. Thus he deduced, the lead 'jacket' of the bullet had exploded into pieces and struck the magus not unlike a double-00 buckshot shell. But unfortunately, the charge of a handgun round was much more anemic than a shotgun's, thus it couldn't have done much more than draw blood as it struck him in the gut.

Whatever defenses the magus had, they worked to block small arms fire quite well, but not had not been designed to deal with a round that exploded on impact.

"I WILL TEACH YOU UNENDING AGONY FOR THIS, _YOU THIRD-RATE WORM!_ " A voice bellowed from behind them and Shirou almost felt a grin coming up.

"Well, someone's angry." He looked at Adrian who finally seemed to have collected himself somewhat. At least enough to be on the verge of a panic attack, judging by his wide eyes and his unsteady, rapid breathing.

"Adrian. Adrian." Shirou shook him, but to no avail. He frowned and finally simply slapped the magus; the whip-like strike sending the Enforcer reeling back before he stared at Shirou with wide-eyes. "Adrian, you've got two choices here."

The Enforcer looked at Shirou blankly before nodding.

"Either you get the hell out and get to Rin, which I doubt you can; there's no way the door isn't already closed." Shirou said, almost offhandedly as if being trapped inside a bloodthirsty, howling magus' workshop was nothing to get worked up over. Adrian's eyes widened at those words, realizing that he was trapped.

"Or..." Shirou drew it out, before noticing that he was being ignored. He slapped the Enforcer again, satisfied that he was being listened to he continued. "Or you can help me and then we get out together.."

Adrian blinked and slowly nodded. Making sure that he was paying attention, Shirou outlined his plan.

"You're mad."

"Well, it's either that or dying here. Your choice." Shirou shrugged.

"Fine, but just... Fine. But how will you know where to..." Adrian deflated as if all the fight had been knocked out of him and he was only running through the motions. Still, despairing-and-angry-at-him was better than catatonic with terror.

"Oh, that's easy." Shirou put his hand on the drywall next to him. "—trace _on_ ,"

The Enforcer blinked and before he could ask again, Shirou opened his eyes and dragged him along as he ran.

They made it through three connected rooms, before Adrian realized that Shirou seemed to know where he was going.

"D-did you just structurally analyze the whole house in less than a second?!" Adrian gaped.

"Uh, I guess." Shirou shrugged, turning another corned and cutting through a bedroom with two doors. Luckily, the house was quite big, giving them plenty of hiding room.

"What do you mean, 'you guess'!?" The Enforcer roared in outrage, which only served to make Shirou raise an eyebrow. "You know what? You know what! Once we are done here, I am having you designated for sealing! I can do that, you know! Sealing Enforcer! Of the Clocktower! I can lock you up for the rest of your life! In fact, you can have a cell right next to Gazamy, you lunatic hedge-mage from the ass end of nowhere!"

Shirou merely gave the other an unimpressed stare as he turned to look around as he judged the mental map of the house in his mind's eye. Behind them, the swearing intensified and Shirou turned his head as his eyes went wide, "Uh oh."

"'Uh oh' what?" Adrian ground his teeth as he gasped for breath after his rant. While Shirou was relieved that some life had been knocked back into the Enforcer, having the other shouting at the top of his lungs until he was completely out of breath was hardly optimal.

"Twelve... No, make that fifteen horrors were just summoned. I think." Shirou scratched his jaw, as if weighing whether that would be a problem.

"Oh, just what we needed."

"I'm sure you can handle one or two. This way." Shirou said as he turned to sprint down into one room. It had several dressers, a pair of chairs and a divan along with a small table. Around the walls were several book cases, filled to the brim with various books and knick-knacks.

"This is a dead en—" Adrian was about to say, but the Shirou jumped up on a cupboard, vaulted onto a dresser and then used the holy sword to cut open a hole in the ceiling. Before the Enforcer could even finish his sentence the red-head had already jumped through the hole into the first floor above them.

The Enforcer gaped until Shirou's head popped out to stare down at him with a frown. "Hurry up, come on."

Ignoring the proffered hand, Adrian made his own way up with his wind magic. Shirou then put the floor back in place where they had come up, as if replacing a cork on a flask. "Come on, this way."

Shirou lead the way, walking quietly down one hallway and finally stopping before a door. Arriving at a guest bedroom, Shirou entered and pulled Adrian along with him and then closed the door after checking both ways down the hallway. He turned to look back at Adrian who seemed confused.

"I thought you told me that we were going to flank him and that you would then break us out. Why did we go up?"

"Yeah, that was the plan until he summoned horrors. Change of plans. And keep quiet." Shirou said, placing a finger on his lips as he had been speaking in a quieter voice.

Adrian blinked and frowned at him.

"We're right above Relchronos; he hasn't moved. I think he made it so the horrors won't enter the room he's in, somehow. I had thought to flank him, but I don't think that will work anymore; the horrors will make too much of a racket the moment we approach him." Shirou elaborated as he closed his eyes and measured his steps from a wall. "Alright, so you only have to do two things. I'll handle the rest."

"...Go on." Adrian said, crossing his arms.

"Use that thing you did with the sword to cut a hole _right here_ about _this big_." Shirou showed where he stood. "And then do the thing with the coins like I told you to. I'll be standing over _there_ in 3 minutes."

Shirou pointed at a wall and Adrian nodded slowly, understanding the rough outline of the plan. "But why cannot we simply attack him from here? If he's unaware of us, it should be doable."

"I don't think so. He has some kind of defensive barrier, so I'm hesitant to just attack him. Also, if he's not distracted he'll just freeze you in place the moment he sees you. My way his back will be turned to you." Shirou said and smirked at the wince Adrian did at the word 'freeze'. It seemed that their experience at the camp had turned the Enforcer against all sorts of time stagnation fields. "Make a hole; use coins; I'll be there."

Shirou repeated and looked intently at the Enforcer until he nodded his understanding.

"Alright. Now I just need to get down, myself. Remember, two minutes starting now." Shirou said, taking a few casual swings with the sword as if to work out some kinks and to make sure he was in top form. He turned to the door and opened it, very carefully and quietly. Making sure to check both ways before he left, he left with a wave of his hand, holding two fingers up. Adrian pointedly ignored him.

Shirou made sure to walk as quietly as he could until he reached the first floor. The stairs were old and the wood wanted to groan and creak beneath his feet, but he managed to get down undetected. The whole point of setting Adrian upstairs was to keep the horrors from finding him after all.

Walked down the hallway, Shirou readied his sword; it was time to make some noise.

He whipped out the sword and carved a deep rend into the wall. There was a sudden stillness that went beyond mere sound, as if the attention of every living thing within a hundred miles had suddenly turned around and locked onto him.

Shaking off the oppressive weight of the ghostly sensation, Shirou turned around and began to dash. In his head, the clock for one minute had already begun ticking.

He heard a sound as he approached the hallway that had originally lead to the room where he and Adrian had jumped a floor above. One or two, perhaps three horrors had followed them into that room. It could only have been a matter of timing that he managed to run into them.

Not sparing even a moment for the horrors, Shirou sprinted across the open doorway and behind him he could hear the sounds of the roused and piqued horrors noticing him.

Shirou cut a corner instead of continuing down towards the kitchen, buying himself some more time before the horrors could get line of sight on him, at the cost of adding four seconds to his schedule. Still he could manage it, he thought as he readied his sword. Behind him two horrors came barreling down the hall and hit the wall with a loud thump and a groan of wooden wall.

The two began to excitedly whistle and click-clack their claws and teeth as they chased after him. Shirou ignored the two as he turned left and entered another bedroom. He frowned at the pink décor for a moment, which he found more than a tad bit unusual but shook those irrelevant thoughts aside.

He shook his head and pulled shut the door behind him. He inhaled and then at the peak of his breath, whispered "—trace _on_ ,"

Shirou's sense of touch expanded and flooded the door as he shoved a chair beneath the handle, to keep it from being opened. There was no lock and the walls were too thin to hold against a horror's attempts for any real length of time.

But that is where his magecraft came in to play.

He exhaled and poured out his magical energy into the wall and the door. The lock morphed, turning into a spike that drove straight into the wall, expanding inside the weak material like frozen water on glass, tendrils and branches expanding within it. The old wood, so dry and thin that a single solid kick was all it took to smash through it, was flooded with magical energy and accordingly gained the toughness of a sheet of mild steel.

He cut off the flood from his hand and stepped back, just as a pair of impacts hit the door. They weren't getting through, not at least for another ten seconds. Forty eight seconds left. He spun on his heel and used the momentum to slash out diagonally, following that with another pair of slashes to complete a large triangle.

His foot lashed out and the equidistant triangle of wall popped out into the room on the other side. Without a second thought, Shirou dived through coming up in a roll as he spun around again and picked up the piece of wall and stuck it right back where he had cut it out.

Just as he got the piece in place, he could hear the door on the other side being knocked down. He could almost _feel_ it through the wall as the door broke beneath their assault. Behind him, the door to this room was closed thus he felt safe any strays wouldn't notice him immediately here. Judging that the piece would hold in place without him holding it so long as none of the horrors prodded it, Shirou left it and snuck to the door.

Opening it quietly and peering left and right, he sighed in relief when nothing was outside. He could hear the noise of several horrors screeching in the room he had just left behind and he paid them little heed as he moved. Thirty seconds.

He cornered and noticed a horror standing before him, looking away. It seemed puzzled by a cupboard, trying to open the thing with one long tentacle, its claws drawing deep gouges into the lacquered wood. Shirou thought for a second that he could sneak past it, but realizing it was already turning due to the sound of his running steps he thought better.

Taking a deep breath and putting power into his legs, he kicked up a gear and went into full sprint. The sword took point naturally and before the horror could even see him it had already been in cut in twain as Shirou blew past it like the wind.

It didn't even have enough time for a dying screech, but Shirou knew that the smell of its innards would draw in more horrors. Twenty four seconds.

There was a sound ahead, from the kitchen. Shirou kicked open the door and in the same motion sprung forward and slashed down a horror before it could react. Holding his breath he turned on the spot grabbing a chair and shoved it against the door. It wouldn't hold against a horror, but if it were merely curious at the noise it might be discouraged by the obstacle for a couple of seconds. Eighteen seconds.

He ran through the kitchen and came out to the dining room that connected to the living room around a small doorway. He neared the wall and put all his efforts into controlling his breathing as his ears strained to listen. It didn't sound like he had been spotted, but he couldn't be sure.

At least, Shirou didn't think that Relchronos had a familiar bond with the horrors, so having been spotted that way seemed unlikely. Still, he must suspect something due to the racket and would be facing this way. It wouldn't matter, or so he hoped.

Ten seconds. Shirou took a deep breath and focused.

Eight seconds, Shirou took a step back and eyed the wall in front of him. There was no point in walking through the doorway to the living room; he had definitely made enough of a ruckus that Relchronos would be facing that way.

But that's what the sword was for; he raised the blade over his left shoulder as he _coiled_ his entire body. Held with one hand the sword was both faster and more mobile, and he wanted speed more than anything right now. Besides, its keen edge hardly needed another hand to bite through the walls of this house.

Five; his breath came out as an audible gust as his entire body exploded into motion. Four cuts, all flawlessly performed cut through the wall as if it were made out of cardboard, flashed in the space of half a second. His foot lashed out and his new improvised door went flying inside as he charged inside.

"W-what...!"

Perfect, Relchronos was facing 45 degrees away from Shirou, his hand outstretched at the door to the dining room and Luvia remained where she had been frozen in place earlier. A stray thought of worry almost penetrated his concentration but he forced it away; he couldn't afford to be distracted right now.

Shirou could probably make it all the way to the old magus if he rushed; he might even be able to cut down the magus before he snapped off a bounded field and froze Shirou in his tracks. But even then Shirou had no guarantees that Relchronos would not simply use the _lance_.

Thus, this entire convoluted plan. Three seconds. The lance was simply that important.

Thus, he had to brave this man head on and risk facing that ridiculous bounded field that could stop a True Ancestor in her tracks despite being nothing more than a third-rate magus. Thus, he could only leave it to Saber.

After all, she had never failed him in his time of need.

"Haaaa—" He took a single step, his eyes tracking the motion of the older magus' eyes widening in shock, followed by his correction of alignment. The flow of time Shirou could perceive seemed to have stagnated, but he knew it was nothing more than an illusion; a self-delusion as he clung to every second he had.

One.

It all happened at once; the ceiling came crashing down behind Relchronos who was almost hit by the falling floor; the spell wove into existence right on top of Shirou and began to shape into existence; the golden sword burned with a furious light and struck down the pinhead-sized point of origin of the bounded field before it could actualize and it exploded in a burst of light as it vanished.

They both stumbled; Relchronos from the falling debris and Shirou from the sheer backlash of striking down a mystery of the highest order with the holy sword.

Zero.

The sound of clinking coins hadn't escaped Shirou's notice, despite all the racket and explosions. Despite the sheer confusion of the moment, Shirou could only grin as he knew he had already won this exchange.

Shirou danced back a step to the left and just as he stopped to look at Relchronos who had finally recovered from the moment of confusion, it was already too late. The coins landed on the lance and took hold; as if magnets they stuck to the shaft and as Adrian swung out his sword the lance _followed_.

"Huh—?!" Relchronos let out a panicked yelp as the lance almost hit him on the shoulder as it sailed past him. The old magus' eyes bugged out of his head as Shirou caught the lance with a grunt; the force of the swing continued despite Shirou catching it thus it his him with the force of a swung baseball bat.

But the sweetness of success overpowered any strain or suffering he could have felt at that moment.

With this, the conditions for being able to defeat Relchronos had been fulfilled; he had understood perfectly how unfair an advantage the old magus had possessed. The last thoughts of the late Lord El-Melloi, the intense pain and the horrified realization of just how Relchronos had managed to survive despite the forces arrayed against him.

Shirou had grasped it all and in that moment been catalyzed to achieve the last one thing that Lord El-Melloi thought. Get Rhongomyniad away from Relchronos de la Torre, at all costs.

"Y-you! Return that to me! At once!" Relchronos all but screeched, his eyes wide and a noticeable tremble to his hand. Gone was that absolute confidence, that unbreakable stride and swagger of his that let him ignore any adversity. Because, his reset button had been stolen, the true weakness of his heart had finally been revealed.

The fact that he was trying to deal with words rather than actions in this moment only all but confirmed this for Shirou. He gave a mocking half-wave with the hand holding onto the sword as he took a step back.

"Wait—"

"Adrian! Time to run!" Shirou shouted over the magus above and then turned on his heel and ran off, leaving the shouting magus behind him. He realized a second later that he had left Luvia behind and cursed, but did not stop. He had hoped that perhaps there would be an opening for him to break her out, but no such lucky occurrence had come to pass.

Still, as long as he held the lance it was only a matter of time until Relchronos was defeated. Even without it, perhaps the man could still achieve his original goals—or could he? Shirou wasn't all too certain—but given that his lifeline had been cut, the old magus would be far more cautious and reserved henceforth. But Relchronos should at least possess the ability to run away from here, even now. With Luvia as a hostage, the others would not cave in to his demands but Shirou _might_ agree to let him go for her release, if Relchronos agreed to stop his experimenting.

Then again, what magus worth their salt would agree to such a condition? No, Relchronos would fight.

That is, if his confidence hadn't been shattered. Shirou judged from that exchange, that lasted less than ten seconds, that the magus would not dare to act overtly now. Thus he only had to get out of the house to secure that Relchronos would be taken down. Shirou dismissed his naivety and concentrated on running.

After all, without the lance he would not be able to summon in any new—

His new ghostly sense of the world warned him before his physical senses could detect anything amiss. The crack in the veil of reality only extended for half a meter, but through it in a single instant a horror suddenly appeared before Shirou.

 _Ah, well it turns out he can still somewhat summon monsters,_ Shirou had time to think before the horror noticed him. The lance in his left hand shot out and pinned the horror through instantly; long enough to keep Shirou safe as it slew the beast, it was still more than a little awkward to use on foot and in-doors.

Originally a weapon meant to be wielded on horseback, it was not something one could simply wield with one hand and hope to excel with. Still, it had worked here well enough, he thought as one last shudder went through the horror before it died.

His relief was short-lived however, as he realized that his ghost sense was pinging off like mad. Six, a dozen, twen—thirty... Shirou swallowed nervously as he tried to count the numerous incoming cracks and realized that he lost count after fifty.

"Ah shit." Was all he could mutter, before two more horrors were forcefully ejected out of the ether right in front of Shirou. They seemed as put out by the summoning as Shirou was by their presence and twice as willing to take their frustrations out on him.

The three, one magus and two otherworldly monsters, all looked at one another for one awkward moment.

Shirou turned and spun on his heel and slashed out twice in succession at the wall and jumped back. The holy sword cut through the wall just as easily as before and the lance followed suite and smashed through the parted wood with the force of a wrecking ball. He turned on his heel and ran for all that his legs could carry him. Behind him, there came a great creak of wood and plaster followed by a crash and howl of pain from the horrors.

Structural Analysis was good at that, finding load bearing sections of the wall. Two cuts and the whole corridor came down on the horrors. Shirou didn't waste time admiring his handiwork, rather he shoved the lance into the wall at about shoulder height and then with a small apology to the lance he jumped up onto the platform created by the shaft.

He nervously glanced at the direction of the living room; Relchronos should be coming after him any second now.

Three slashes, this time with far less care and precision, and an opening to the second floor was opened and the piece of the ceiling fell down with sound of wood on floor as a cloud of dust was kicked up. Shirou jumped down, pulled out the lance and then took some distance and with a running start used the lance to pole-vault against the wall and then pushed off with a jump into the second floor.

Just as he got his bearings again, Shirou heard a panicked cry of pain from his left. He tensed up, realizing it was Adrian's voice. He froze and then cursed silently; he kicked off and the door that barred his way exploded in a burst of shrapnel-like splinters under the lance and struck one unfortunate horror straight on as he rushed out. It barely had enough time to register the surprise before the lance pierced through it and ended its miserable existence.

Shirou jumped over the dead horror, using the lance as a pole to vault with once more and almost hit his head in the ceiling. He dashed off with the lance trailing behind him in a reverse grip and drawing a line of blood and guts on the floor as he ran, he turned a corner only to have his blood turn to ice.

Relchronos was there, as was Adrian. Shirou felt his guts churn as guilt welled up in him. The Enforcer had come along out of his own free will, but it had been Shirou's plan that had put him here. Maybe if Shirou hadn't shouted out earlier, Relchronos would not have thought to chase up into the second floor after Adrian?

A dozen other such thoughts, self-recriminations and admonishments at himself raced through his mind in a second as he took the scene in.

As it was, there was no more time for regrets. After all before him, there caught inside a time stagnating bounded field, Shirou could only behold in grotesque awe as Adrian was being torn apart in slow motion by four horrors.

The Enforcer's face was a rictus of terror and agony, his glasses had been crushed by a tentacle wrapped around his neck and head and were speckled by blood and the remains of his crushed left eye. There were at least six tentacles _inside_ him, ravaging his muscles and organs with their teeth and claws.

He was beyond hope and Shirou realized that he had been far too optimistic, far too drunk with his moment of success mere moments before. Did he really think that a magus would simply give up after his plans were laid to waste? He should have set up contingencies; planned how they would retreat and break away; how and where to meet up after he had gotten the lance.

"Oh, there you are..." Relchronos turned to Shirou, noticing his arrival. "Now, if you would be so kind as to return to me what is mine, we can avoid any further unpleasantness."

Shirou took a step back only to stop a grimace, as he realized there was a half-formed crack seven meters behind him. Relchronos would summon horrors behind Shirou and trap him the moment anything departed from the way he preferred things to run their course.

"Yours? Hah, a thief's claim is a thief's blame. This belongs to you no more than it does to me." Shirou spoke, before his brain could catch up with his mouth. He inwardly cursed and winced at his habit of his tongue running wild under pressure, as Relchronos' eye twitched.

"...Yet again, I see no means through which you could have come by that knowledge, yet possess it you do." Relchronos ground his teeth so hard between words as he spoke, that Shirou thought he could hear them cracking between his frustrated words. "Is this the work of the deterrent force? Or perhaps that lordling? _No_... No this is _fate,_ is it not, _Emiya_?"

Shirou licked his lips in a nervous habit as he realized that deep within those ancient eyes, veiled by his tired mien and his exhausted appearance, lay a spark of true madness.

"I do not know how you managed to slip by my notice; the notice of the entire Clocktower, after the debacle that was Norikata Emiya... But you have, haven't you? You have waited for this day, to reclaim what is your right, your duty and your heritage!" His voice rose with every word, until he was shouting at the top of his lungs as he raised his arms to the ceiling.

Shirou took a look behind him and gauged the size and number of _cracks_ , perhaps he could slip past them in a moment of inattentiveness on Relchronos' part? Just like this moment right now; he wasn't looking; should he run or should he wait?

His hesitation cost him the moment as Relchronos gathered himself, lowering his arms as if to embrace Shirou, a kindly smile on his face.

"Very well. Yes, very well. Well done and so shall it be; I have regretted that day for all my days since. That one moment of arrogance cost me my only friend and equal." Relchronos took single step forward, arms still held aloft and his expression softened. To Shirou it looked like years and years, decades even, seemed to slough off of his shoulders like so much water with every step. "I would be remiss to deny my friend's grandson this momentous day of discovery; of truth; of purpose! I apologize for my previous behavior; from the bottom of my heart, truly and wholly. It has been a trying several days, I hope you can find it in you to forgive me, as I forgive you for treating me naught but as a nemesis!

"Come, join me. And together we shall make right the mistake that has plagued us for decades." The magus took another step, his eyes boring into Shirou's own and not even once glancing at the lance. Did he really care more about Shirou's—Emiya Shirou's—cooperation than he did about getting back the lance?

The thought seemed ridiculous, yet staring at the man before him, Shirou couldn't say for certain.

Shirou weighed his options and then with a sigh twirled the sword in his right hand, holding it point down as he extended his hand. Three hundred. The magus looked at Shirou with curious eyes, not quite understanding.

Then Shirou shoved it point down into the floor and let go of the sword; it flashed one last time, as if mourning the loss of his touch before it dimmed back into a state of normalcy. The magus blinked and opened his mouth, an expression of hopeful joy glimmering in his eyes.

Shirou took a step forward, and another, until he stood before Relchronos holding only onto the lance in his left hand in such a grip that the point was behind Shirou. It was not a position from where he could strike out, not easily at least in this cramped hallway.

"My father received what was left of the crest, but it was damaged. I... received nothing of his heritage and have struggled long to catch up to what he could do. Desperately clawing at anything that, anything at all..." Shirou said, his eyes downcast. He extended his right hand, as he met Relchronos' eyes. "I forgive you for everything that has transpired and hold no grudges, so I ask you... Please, would you teach me of my family's arts?"

Relchronos' eyes widened and with a bubbling laughter he grabbed Shirou's arm, shaking it wildly before pulling Shirou in and casting his arms around him, clapping him on the back and laughing exuberantly. "Of course, of course! I would love nothing more! Come, come! Let us go downstairs, I will show you all that I have learned since then. Together, _together_ we shall delve deep into the very veil of existence and I shall show you wondrous things. We have all the time in the world, yes. Yes!"

Pulling Shirou excitedly with him, the two walked down the stairs. Neither spared the Enforcer, still in the middle of his death throes, a second glance as they walked around the bubble of stagnated time as if it were nothing more than furniture in their way.

"While I had heard of the Emiya bloodline thinning out since the death of Norikata, I must commend you for your mastery of mysteries that elude even my learned eyes." Relchronos gave one last glance to the sword Shirou had left behind, as if not quite sure what to make of him leaving it there. Finally, seeming to accept Shirou's act as a gesture of trust he tore his eyes away from it to look at Shirou once more.

The question was plain to see in his eyes, yet the older magus hesitated. Shirou felt strangely amused by this; it was common courtesy among magi to not overly pry into the mysteries of others, but it only mattered among those who acted with hospitality to one another. That Relchronos wished to avoid such an awkward situation spoke about the honesty in his offer, as far as Shirou could tell.

"It's something like regaining treasures which have been lost to time." Shirou said, somewhat hesitant to pretend to be an expert on his own magic due to quite literally having been stuck at such an elemental stage until quite recently. Until yesterday night, really.

Relchronos' eyes lit up at that as he nodded thoughtfully, "Yes, yes. I can see how such a devastating set-back could influence your magics, going so far as to induce a radical shift in your inclinations. 'To regain', you say? Quite impressive and obfuscative; most excellent work, of the highest grade without a doubt."

Shirou was not sure what to say to that, so here merely nodded. They arrived at the living room once more, the walk seeming somehow far quicker this time than before, despite his walking at a far more sedate pace.

There, still standing frozen in mid-sentence was Luvia. Shirou eyed her with a frown and as soon as Relchronos' noticed his gaze he seemed to notice her presence as well.

"Oh, I had all but forgotten about her altogether." The magus spoke in a tone of voice that suggested he had forgotten to put the juice back in the fridge after getting a drink. "Oh, well. It is not as if she matters. What a bothersome woman, she and that oriental as well. Though I must admit to being somewhat distraught at first at your intrusion, all is well that ends well. No?"

Shirou nodded and gave a shrug, as if saying 'I hadn't expected this either' to the man.

"We did sort of blow your cover. Would you be able to go back with the both of us?" Shirou asked and Relchronos raised his brows in an expression of utmost surprise.

"Truly, your insight is first-rate." He praised the redhead wholeheartedly before he nodded. "I made certain to always retain a stock of magical energy sufficient for most any contingency, as the road I have taken upon is most perilous. It will be stretching it, but a few hours for the both of us is no problem. That far should be enough to undo most of your mischief, yes?"

Shirou nodded and then looked thoughtful. "So alone you could go further?"

"But of course. Though it is a matter of diminishing returns to an extent. The creatures I summon are little more than creatures displaced through a use of the Flash Air mystery." Relchronos elaborated and nodded at Shirou's wince. "Indeed, they are degenerated and enfeebled by the process. Not something one would want to experience first hand."

Shirou raised the lance he was still holding and spoke, "And that is where Ron comes in?"

"Ron...? Ah, yes. The holy lance? Indeed it does. Rather than a transportation through space and time, it is merely a method of reincarnating in the past, by rewinding the entire world around the self. But due to this limited scope, its accuracy is most excellent. I've not accrued any rot of the soul or such like as of yet. Worry not, my young friend, it is as safe as any magic of this magnitude can be. I do not intend to fail due to minor errors and inconsistencies piling up; I have waited long enough to make such ."

"That's incredible." Shirou admitted his awe honestly, before looking thoughtful.

"Thank you, but I must honestly confess that I have expectations as great for you as well; with your mystery would it not be possible to bring back the summoned creatures much more wholly? By increasing the quality, the quantity required obviously will decrease proportionately. I may have to spend more magical energy to bring you with me, but in the long run I suspect that our partnership will save us a great deal of effort."

Shirou nodded before looking thoughtfully at Luvia and Relchronos looked at him with furrowed brows. Shirou walked up to the blonde, leaving between them the original divide of nine meters just as there had been when they had first come face to face.

"What is it?" The magus asked and Shirou sighed.

"It's about Luvia." Shirou admitted as he avoided looking the other in the eye.

"Oh, who is she to you?"

Shirou did not say anything, instead walking up to Luvia and setting down the lance to rest against the wall behind her. "We studied together and while we weren't exactly close, she did help me out on occasion."

"And you feel there is a debt there?" Relchronos inquired, though Shirou could feel his interest was not on him, despite his back facing the older magus. The magus was probably eyeing the lance now that Shirou had set it aside. Good, that would make him lower his guard in distraction. Twenty.

"...Yes." Shirou said simply, turning around as he stood between the frozen Luvia and the Grand Magus. "So, sorry about this."

Relchronos sighed, as if he had been expecting Shirou to have been merely playing along. "Tumultuous as our first meeting was, my offer was not made in jest nor in prevarication; it did my soul good to have made the effort to reconcile for that old mistake, regardless of your refusal. For that, you have my thanks. But matters be that they are, this shall be the end. Goodbye, young Emiya."

Shirou nodded and squared his feet and raised his arms; magical energy coursed through his body, strengthening his muscles, bones, skin and sinew to the utmost limit of human potential. He prayed that it would be enough.

"One."

Relchronos raised an eyebrow questioningly at that, wondering if that would be Shirou's last word of choice for some reason. The older magus opened his mouth, a reply on his lips, but it never made it out.

Zero.

And then there was pure whiteness. Scorching heat. Blinding golden light. Pressure strong enough that it should have made his brain would pop out through his eyes, ears and nose, before his entire body felt like it was being squeezed by a gigantic hand and backhanded at the speed of sound.

Shirou lost consciousness for an instant, but the impact of his body flying through the wall behind him was enough to jolt him back awake even through the complete haze of his nonfunctional senses. His eyes saw nothing, his ears rang painfully, there was a bruise forming on his back and his skin tingled as if he had burns on his entire front.

He lay there in a daze for some time.

When the blinding brightness in his eyes finally faded to give him enough visual feedback to pull himself together, Shirou could not tell if he had been lying there for a second or for an entire day. His entire body tingled and his face felt wet and warm. His throat constricted and sore as if he had been screaming at the top of his lungs for hours, on top of it all.

Well, that was the last time he did that with a Noble Phantasm.

Oh certainly, the idea to replicate the gem magics explosive power through Reinforcement seemed like a good idea once he had it, but now that he had been on the mere fringe of the effect he realized he had been woefully unprepared for the sheer destructive force he would be calling forth.

Half of the house was simply gone.

He had made sure to get as far away from the Noble Phantasm as possible and to have Relchronos standing closer to the Holy Sword. And still it was such a ridiculous attack as to almost kill him. To think Shirou had been planning to use this as a trump card attack with a projected weapon; it would be nothing less than suicide to try in a fight.

"Shows me... to try and copy those two..." He groaned with every word, realizing that he was spitting blood as well as he slowly moved to wipe his face with his hand. There was blood coming out of his nose and ears too, he realized numbly. "Never... doing that... again..."

"Ugh..." Someone behind Shirou groaned. He then realized that he could only hear with one of his ears; that wasn't a good sign, he somewhat realized.

Shirou turned around to look and noticed Luvia lying there, some meters behind him. Ah shit, he realized. He had smashed right into her and sent them both flying, despite having planned to protect her body with his own. Shirou moved to get up, but felt something beneath his hand and looked down curiously.

It was the handgun.

Shirou stared at it for a long while, not understanding its existence there. Then he shook his head, blaming the confusion on a probably concussion and placed the gun in his now empty holster. A loaded gun could be useful, after all. That much sense he still had in himself.

He stared around, taking in everything in a half-comprehending daze. The living room was now a big hole and the sun was shining through. There was debris and dust everywhere, Shirou realized as he spat out some dirt from his mouth. He was currently in the kitchen, together with Luvia. With slow realization, he understood that she must have cushioned the impact. He hoped she was alright, as he on wobbly feet got up again.

He needed to find the lance again and make sure Relchronos was down for good.

"Shirou! Luvia! Answer me! Is anyone still alive, answer if you can hear me!" A voice sounded outside and Shirou blearily tried to raise his voice but found himself unable to make any great sounds.

At least he found the lance. Rhongomyniad had been behind Luvia, leaning against the wall. Shirou had wanted to set aside the lance since he wasn't very familiar with it. Had the Broken Phantasm Caliburn failed to down the magus, Shirou had intended to project another one to use the first as a distraction to get close to the magus.

As it turned out, that had been an entirely unnecessary worry.

There remained nothing of Relchronos as far as Shirou could tell, even through his muddled state he was sure that the magus had been hit much, much harder than Shirou had been by that explosion.

"Ah!"

Shirou turned to face the sound of the new voice. There stood Rin, looking none-the-worse for wear beyond her tired eyes, yet frazzled into a state of complete panic nonetheless. She seemed a little tired, despite hurrying over to him.

"Hey..." Shirou croaked, raising one hand as the other used the lance as a crutch to stay upright. The Tohsaka heiress paled at the sight of him, before she rushed forward to support him.

"Shirou! What the hell happened!? One second you went in, the next the house bloody well exploded!" She pulled his free hand up and over her shoulder, helping him stand as she looked around for a place to have him sit down. Her eyes registered Luvia and the lance in Shirou's lance, but neither seemed to matter to her at the moment.

"Huh." Shirou groaned. "Time dilation."

He should have guessed; the old magus seemed to make enough references to time being on his side. It seemed obvious in hindsight. Well, it didn't matter anymore given that Shirou had managed to blow up the entire field to kingdom come.

For a moment Shirou wondered whether he ought to tell Rin about the gun and the lance.

"What...?" She blinked at him and Shirou shook his head.

"Why isn't Zelretch handling this?"

"...What is that supposed to mean?" She tried to affect confusion, but Shirou saw right through her.

Shirou gave her a flat stare and after a second she turned to avoid his gaze. Deciding to worry about Luvia in hopes of avoiding the subject, she got up without a word to look at the Finnish blonde. Shirou, realizing that she was going to ignore him for the moment, used that time pat his body to check that he didn't have any superfluous holes on his person and that he could still feel everything. He was also relieved to note that nothing inside seemed to be moving unnaturally, either.

"Urgh... what...?" Luvia finally groaned as Rin gave her a weak magical jolt. She seemed to be unhurt, though dazed and confused enough that she was essentially just as incapacitated. Satisfied that the blonde was mostly fine, Rin gave Shirou a sideways glance and as their eyes met she sighed.

"Fine..." She propped up Luvia and then moved back to Shirou and began to take a closer look at him. "It seems like you have some idea of what's going on beyond what that snake Adashino was telling us."

Shirou nodded and then looked curiously as Rin's hand began to glow as she moved to touch his left ear. There was an uncomfortable popping sensation, as if someone had pulled a wad of gum out of his ear, and suddenly he felt dizzy.

"That's just your inner ear being healed, just try to focus on breathing and it will normalize. And try not to vomit, at least not while I'm here." Rin paid his discomfort little heed as Shirou groaned. He grit his teeth and focused on the sound of her voice as she continued to speak. "Well, basically de la Torre was doing something insane and the entire World is on the verge of ending. Master Kischur did not explain beyond the basics due to his haste, but due to the Universe despising needless expenditure of energy on timelines we are on the verge of being Pruned."

Pruned? Shirou didn't like the sound of that. "That's bad?"

Rin merely gave him a look, as if asking whether he really needed her to tell him that.

"Huh. Well as long as he doesn't have this, it shouldn't be a problem." Shirou shrugged as he hefted the lance.

Rin blinked and looked at Rhongomyniad, not quite understanding Shirou's meaning. "And that is...?"

Shirou shrugged and put the lance between them sideways, running fingers over it as he admired the crystallized mystery.

"This is the EX-rank Noble Phantasm that upholds all of reality as we know it." Shirou explained. Rin blinked as she looked at him. Then at the lance. Then back to him. "I call it 'Ron'."

"...Ron, is it?" Rin said, tasting the word, as if it were a morsel of food she was told to eat but was sure smelled a bit off and not sure if she would be impolite to decline. "Hmm, your pupils seem a little dilated beyond the usual. A concussion?"

Shirou scoffed as she ignored him. Still, he probably did have one.

"Got anything for one?"

"No... That's, I dare not start messing with the brain. You'll have to tide it over the old fashioned way. So no heavy, strenuous exercise until you've seen a healer." Rin said sternly, but there seemed to be an undercurrent of worry there. Shirou shrugged and made a noise of understanding. As long as Relchronos was dead, it should be fine.

"Oww... What happened? Where is Feyn-Mallard?" Luvia finally seemed to have enough presence of mind to join in the discussion and she blearily looked around with obvious confusion.

Shirou blinked and his uplifted mood immediately sank at the reminder of the Enforcer's fate. "He... didn't make it."

Luvia blinked and then nodded at his words before looking at Rin. The raven-haired magus shrugged and the blonde seemed to relax at that.

There was a sudden enormous groaning sound, as if the very earth beneath their feet was suddenly straining. The three all froze at that and when the second tremor came and the house began to make creaking sounds, they were all galvanized into action.

"The house is going to collapse!"

They all rushed out as best they could; Shirou used the lance as a crutch as he half-awkwardly hobbled forward until Rin ran back to lend him a shoulder. A dozen seconds later they all stood outside the house as it came down with a tumultuous crash and creak of wood and stone. It didn't so much collapse as it simply fell over, as with half the house's support structures missing the balance was so lop-sided as to cause the remaining walls to tilt over.

The three stared silently at the house for a minute before Shirou finally almost fell over, almost pulling Rin down with him.

"Well, if we're done here, let us go and get the car. I believe Sherou needs some medical assistance as soon as possible. Seeing as how you're spent, I will handle it once we get my supplies." Luvia spoke as she dusted herself; the short run had seemed to help her regain her bearings for the most part.

Rin glanced at Shirou and he waved her off; saying that he'd wait for the car here. She hesitated and nodded, the raven-haired and blonde magi walking off at a brisk pace without another word leaving Shirou there alone.

Shirou took a deep breath, letting out his breath as a gust as he rubbed his head. The redhead looked at the ruined house and thought back, wondering if there were a better way to have gone about this. He needed to lay to memory everything that happened here for later review; he had failed again despite coming out alive.

His eyes spotted a bundle of cloth, half-buried and with a start he tried to get up. His legs were quite weak after the desperate run out of the house, but using the lance as support he managed to make it to the remains of the door.

There, still wrapped in the cloth, lay Illyasviel.

Shirou fell to his knees as he let go of the lance, using both of his hands to stop his fall as he began to tear away the debris. Luckily nothing big or heavy had fallen on top of the girl, Shirou thought relieved. She deserved better than this. He would make sure that she got it, that much he wouldn't budge on.

He scooped her with one hand and then took the lance with the other, using the remains of the wall to prop himself back up onto his feet. The exertion left him panting for breath. There was another low groan, Shirou froze as he furrowed his brows at the sound. The house already collapsed, why was it making that sound now.

It almost sounded like...

" _Eeeeeemmmiiiiyaaaaaaa..._ "

Shirou felt a cold shiver run through his spine and he took three steps back, wanting to make as much distance between himself and the ruins of the house as quickly as possible. At the edges of his perception, Shirou could suddenly feel as one by one, then two by two, then a dozen at a time, the various bounded fields around the town and beyond were suddenly disappearing.

And at the same rate, there was a truly massive surge of magical energy growing from the ruins of the house, as if some great ancient demon god had been awakened from its ancient slumber.

" _Humanity Extinction-Level Event Confirmed; Commencing Complete Culling_."

Shirou almost jumped out of his skin at the voice, turning around to look at the source. There stood a tall, tanned man wearing black armor, a white ragged cloak and snow-white hair. _It_ turned to face him, _its_ empty eyes meeting his.

"Wha—"

Shirou did not sense killing intent.

He did not react to the motion.

He did not realize he was in danger.

But somehow, the lance was between him and the new arrival in that instant as _it_ lashed out. A mere backhanded blow powered by the shoulder muscles only, barely enough for a stinging slap normally, Shirou realized as he landed over twenty meters on the other side of the street with a huff of air leaving his lungs. And yet it had had enough power behind it to kill him in one blow, had Shirou somehow not miraculously parried it.

His hand was numb; his head pounding; his shoulder felt like it had almost been dislocated; his feet felt like jello. And worst of all, the _being_ was still looking at him. Shirou blinked away tears and in the space of a fraction of a second his eyes were closed, a bow had appeared from somewhere in its hands.

Shirou was going to die; of that he had no doubt. The moment this _thing_ became serious, Shirou could no longer hope to have any chance of survival.

There was that earthshaking groan again. Both man and _other_ froze, eyeing the ruins with a sideways glance. A pregnant silence, where nothing moved for a good ten seconds.

Then again, even stronger than before the groan came out. This time the tremors were so powerful that the asphalt road cracked and twisted, houses around them collapsed and windows for hundreds of meters cracked and broke.

"Wha—"

Again, Shirou did not have time to complete his confused utterance as the ruins of the house _exploded_ upwards. An arm stood upright, as if digging its way out from beneath the rubble. Only, it was no human limb. For one, it was far too big. Reaching upwards as it was, it was easily twice as tall as the house had been when whole. For another, it was covered in _black scales_ and glowing with red magical energy.

" _ **eeeeeeeeemmmmiiiiiyyaaaaaaa...**_ "

Shirou finally realized that the groans all along had been repeating that one word. He barely had time to swallow and kick himself half a step backwards on his behind, before another gigantic arm shot out from the ruins, sending an entire wall flying a hundred meters into the air effortlessly.

" _Priority Target Located; Engaging._ "

The being turned on its heel and raised the bow, holding nothing in its other hand. Shirou, not caring one whit to see what happened next scrambled to his feet and began to half-run away as fast as he could. Illya in his arm was heavier than ever before and the lance got in his was as he dragged it along, but neither of his hands let go as he struggled to put one foot in front of the other.

Behind him, a five seconds long roar sounded and Shirou almost fell on his face as the shockwave hit his back. He realized belatedly, that it had been the staccato sound of arrows being loosed so rapidly that it had resembled a single long sound a second later as he recovered.

He did not dare to look around or slow down as he hobbled forward. Behind him, a massive rumble shook the earth itself and next he knew a whole house landed thirty meters ahead of him to the side, smashing another house in an explosion of wood and stone.

He had to get to the car, he had to get to Luvia and Rin, he had to...

The car came to a screeching halt next to him, almost running him over. The door was kicked open and Rin jumped out, eyes wide and her expression one of pure panic. Shirou had barely enough time to register her presence before he had been dragged and thrown into the back.

He barely managed to hold onto Illya and the lance as he stumbled in, and as soon as he raised his head the door was slammed shut and Rin jumped back in. The length of the lance was poking out the window as Shirou let go of it to try and sit up.

The engine roared to life and the car swerved around as Luvia turned 180 degrees before pushing pedal to the metal, the wheels squealing as they speed away at speeds far exceeding the street limitations for maximum velocity.

"What the hell did just happen?" Shirou asked as he managed to sit up and looked behind them.

Neither magus sitting in the front spoke and Shirou could feel that they were both on the utter edge; the tension was so thick that he could have cut it as they both studiously kept their eyes forward on the road ahead.

"Hey! Answer me. What the hell is going on!" Shirou shouted, hitting the back of the side-passenger seat for emphasis. The two on the front winced at his voice, but neither seemed willing to speak.

Finally Rin turned to look at him, her eyes straying behind him for a moment as she look to see if they were being followed.

"That... Was a guardian of the deterrent force." Rin said simply, as if unwilling to further put truth to word in hopes of denying by simply not saying it out aloud.

"...Guardian? You mean of the World?" Shirou asked and Rin nodded. Shirou blinked before frowning. "Isn't that a good thing? That the World is finally reacting and taking care of this mess?"

Rin glared at him and Shirou could feel even Luvia's anger flaring at him as he said that.

"Certainly, if you do not mind being exterminated in the process as well." The blonde spoke, as Rin seemed too agitated at the moment to talk.

"Wait, what?"

Rin bristled and grabbed Shirou by the collar as she pulled his face close to hers, their noses almost touching as she grit out the words, accentuating each word with her overflowing anger and annoyance. "The guardians are only ever deployed when the situation has degenerated into a disaster where no means of salvation remain and the only thing that can be done is to wipe the slate clean. The only confirmed such event was _Pompeii_."

Shirou blinked. "Oh."

Rin shook her head, as if to emphasize his realization and to tell him he was an idiot at that moment and then turned around to look forward again.

"Damn it. I hadn't even considered the possibility that the moment he came outside his bounded field that the guardians would appear. No wonder he was hiding and only using summoned creatures." Luvia cursed as she drove.

"Yeah, I doubt that even a familiar would escape the deterrent force's attention. Indirect means must have been the only ones left to him. Kischur was right, he's become a walking disaster by now." Rin agreed.

Shirou looked between the two magi as the car continued to speed down the road, taking wild turns and drifting with the tires squealing wildly as Luvia drove. He was about to ask a question, when he suddenly felt that strange sensation again. It was probably only chance, that he had been leaning against the door and been able to see the glimpse of something flash past above them.

"BRAKE!"

Luvia, luckily or unluckily, had enough presence to mind to obey Shirou's yell. Thus, the _house_ that landed in front of them on the road did not crush them instantly. Instead the car, still in motion but only slowed down marginally due to the brakes being floored, rammed headfirst into the house with a great crash.

Metal warped, windshield shattered and tires blew up upon impact.

The jolt sent Shirou flying against the backs of the front seats and he groaned in pain as he felt a rib break. He realized he should have worn a seat-belt, but it was too late for regrets now.

He looked up, only to freeze. Luvia was staring back at him with glazed eyes. From her chest, a rapidly expanding pool of red was spreading. Through her torso, all the way through to the back of the seat, was a long cracked rusty pipe of some kind. Shirou realized that it was the water line of the house that had been thrown at them.

She had died instantly.

Shirou tore his eyes away from her and looked over to Rin. Unlike Luvia's airbag, which had been speared through and deflated, Rin's had worked just fine. The raven-haired magus was unconscious, but trying with his hand he could find a pulse which relieved him immensely.

But they couldn't stay here, out in the open. He kicked open the door and slid out. Taking the lance, he eyed Rin and Illya.

"I'm sorry. I'll be back for you both. I swear." He mumbled a hasty apology, mostly to relieve himself of the guilt of leaving them behind, as he opened the front door and lifted Rin. She was heavier than Illya, but Shirou merely grit his teeth at the pain and carried her over his shoulder anyhow.

Shirou looked around, looking for a suitable hiding place left and right until he spotted a house with the door half open. He stumbled into the yard and made his way towards the door, he ignored the bloodstained floor inside and stumbled inside as he dragged along the lance and carried Rin. The lock had been shattered from the outside, he notes distantly.

They had tried to make it as far as they could, but had only managed to make it less than three hundred meters down the street. They were still literally within walking distance of the center of all this chaos.

Having been taken out that easily while they had a vehicle, what chances did they have on foot? Especially injured as they were. Escape wasn't an option, Shirou noted with a bitter chuckle.

But what about hiding? Relchronos had managed to stay out of the deterrent force's spotlight for long enough that once he had been revealed, the deterrent force had deemed it necessary to move in with overwhelming force.

Could Shirou make such a bounded field? Could Rin? And once he had chose to hide, would he have to continue hiding inside of it until the end of his days? Would the deterrent force continue to mark him for erasure?

His radio cracked to life in his pocket and Shirou almost fell over at the sound, thinking it some other new danger. He set down Illya and fumbled with the headset for a moment before getting it into his ear.

"— _ay! Anybody, come in!_ "

"This is Emiya, come in." Shirou spoke, as loudly as he dared as he looked out the window nervously for anything unusual.

" _Emiya! Fuck! You gotta help us. Where are you?_ "

Shirou frowned as he looked at the radio, he hesitated for a moment before pressing the call button once more to speak. "I'm hiding out in town; there's something big going on. What's going on there?"

The radio was silent for a long while and Shirou frowned. He was about to try again when it buzzed again.

" _Fuck! Fuck! You have to get over here, it's ba—_ "

The signal crackled and then died abruptly. Shirou blinked and waited. And waited. When nothing was forthcoming, he tried to call back. He tried to get back into contact with them for several minutes, but ultimately it was useless.

Either the line was dead, or the people on the other end were.

Shirou slumped down as he clutched the radio in his hands. His eyes fell on Rin, who was still unconscious.

He leaned over and shook her gently by the shoulders. She did not wake, so he frowned and looked her over. He patted her over to see if she had any wounds and finding none, he checked her airways. Then her breathing and her pulse again. Her skin was pale, almost translucent in the darkness of the abandoned house, he noted.

Finding nothing immediately wrong with her, he let out a relieved sigh. Then he pulled back one eyelid and looked at her pupils. They did seem slightly dilated and of different size. That was bad, if he remembered his first aid correctly. Probably a concussion; were it any other injury, Rin would no doubt be able to handle it with her magecraft.

But given that she was unconscious, that was not possible. Wasn't the Crest designed to prevent just this kind of scenario?

Shirou swore as he leaned back against the wall. He couldn't do anything for Rin right now, which only served to fuel his helplessness-borne frustration. Shirou sat down, crossing his legs and palming his forehead.

Around him, he could hear sounds of fighting and chaos in the distance. The sounds of the world ending, he thought. Was there anything he could do? Had anything he had done up to this point been worth anything at all?

Shirou looked at the lance and huffed.

He understood the siren call of being able to travel back in time now, as he wondered how many times Relchronos had used Ron for that exact purpose. But that was a meaningless and self-serving desire; the refuse loss and reject any ending that was not a complete success. There existed infinite parallel worlds, this he knew.

So to travel back in time, to a place where that-which-has-happened was still that-which-could-happen, explicitly meant arriving at a different place. The people who had died would still be dead and any changes you wrought were simply to alter the lives of those in that new place. Nothing had been changed, only your own perception of the world had been altered. There were infinite worlds where people died and there were infinite world where people lived, thus once you accepted such means your scope became such that nothing you did had any meaning anymore.

Traveling through time could not change the past. A man can never cross the same river twice, for both man and river have changed.

Except...

That is not what Relchronos de la Torre had spoken of. Of what Rin and Luvia had worried over. If that mad magus merely jumped from world to world, would there be any need for any of this to have occurred. No, he had spoken of "rewinding the world" around oneself.

Shirou frowned as he looked at the lance. He reached out for it and held it up, letting the tip rest against the ground as he thought about the lance. On top of everything else, it was degrading slowly but surely. Shirou didn't know what that would mean, but he had a vague understanding that it was _bad_. He took out the pistol he had grabbed and extended his magical energy as he for the second time used Structural Analysis on the firearm.

It was the same, yet a completely different one.

Everything he had done and though, remained the same. Everything prior to Shirou parting with the weapon remained the same as far as he could remember. The difference lay in what happened after that.

Waver Velvet was still alive.

Shirou sighed as he set down the lance and re-holstered the gun. He looked at Rin, still unconscious and for the _n_ th time. She would probably have a better idea of what to do. At the very least, she knew what was going on better than he did. He had been vaguely aware of the deterrent force from his time at the Clocktower, but as it had turned out his education being cut short had left some gaps in his knowledge.

Shirou sighed and shook his head. Enough wallowing in his thoughts and hesitations; he had always been the kind of idiot who only knew how to keep on trying.

There was a knock at the door and Shirou almost jumped out of his skin as he drew the gun with one hand, only to fumble with it due to the unfamiliar form. But nothing happened and Shirou blinked as he kept a bead on the door.

"Who is it?" He asked, half merely voicing out his thoughts.

"Bow, of the Church. We met before briefly." A voice, half-familiar spoke out and Shirou blinked as she walked in.

Blue hair, blue eyes and a blue robe. Or the tattered remains of one, anyway. Shirou gaped at her state of dress and what little he couldn't see. Most of her long legs and her belly could be seen, with only the hinting of cloth to cover her chest and her hips.

With only her combat boots and her leather belt on her hip in anything resembling an undamaged state, it made for a very suggestive image. Skin flushed, the hint of sweat and smell of something unusual in the air that he couldn't quite place.

"Put on some clothes, will you!" He snapped, almost reflexively at her state of near-undress.

The burial agent blinked and looked at him as if a frog had just jumped out of his and begun to serenade her. She looked down at herself and then back to him, before shaking her head.

Shirou felt a little silly at that moment, as he realized what he had just shouted out. He cleared his throat. "Sorry, forget I said that."

The nun raised an eyebrow at him, but then shrugged as if saying she didn't really care either way.

Shirou cleared his throat and looked at her. "So... What do you want?"

"Blunt, aren't you?" She gave him a judging look but then continued. "You managed to retrieve the holy lance. I will take it from here."

Shirou blinked.

How did she know about Rhongomyniad? And more importantly, what did she want with it. Shirou suddenly felt very uneasy about her sudden appearance. How had she managed to get past the guardians?

"Why?"

Ciel raised an eyebrow at him, as if wondering whether it was worth it to keep talking to him. "Because the fate of the world rests on that lance not being allowed to deteriorate further."

Shirou blinked and wondered if she was being facetious. "You're serious?"

"Of course I am." She said and reached for a pouch on her belt.

Shirou gaped as she drew out a length of cloth; a rich crimson veil that somehow spoke of long history to him despite being no weapon. Despite holding onto a vastly more potent and ancient relic in his hands, Shirou had to admit his awe at the cloth as well.

"For the time being, wrap this around the lance to keep it from degenerating. Hurry." She said as she handed over the cloth. Shirou numbly accepted it and awkwardly wrapped it around the lance, being forced to holster the gun once more.

"What is this...?" He said, marveling at the feel of the cloth between his fingers.

"It is a shroud that protects the wearer from the external world. A first rate holy sacrament. You understand how valuable it is, right? So hand the lance over." Ciel said and Shirou frowned.

"...I will give it to you, if you help her." Shirou said, nodding towards the unconscious Rin still lying on the floor behind him.

The burial agent raised her eyebrows, as if not sure whether to be amused or annoyed.

"You know, usually when the Assembly of the Eight Sacrament wants something, they get it." She said, the first hints of a threat entering her voice.

"...But you are with the Burial Agency, why do you care?" Shirou asked.

She grimaced and for a moment, Shirou could see the thought of simply taking the lance from him entered her mind. He couldn't accept that.

"Rhon—" He began and the lance _pulsed_ suddenly with power, causing the burial agent to take several steps back, her eyes wide and unbelieving.

"You...!"

"Let's not turn this nice conversation into a fight, just yet. Why do you want this?" Shirou said, not budging an inch.

She looked him in the eyes for a long moment, before sighing and shrugging.

"What can I say? I have superiors and they handed me a bunch of Executors from the Assembly. They had received a revelation of a holy lance, you see? The Holy Church cannot very well accept the Lance of Longinus passing through their fingers, can they?" She spoke of the matter, like it had nothing to do with her.

Lance of Longinus?

"You mean the lance from the Bible?" Shirou gaped at her and she nodded.

Shirou blinked and looked at the cloth covered lance in his hands. No, no. That couldn't be right.

"...You're wrong. Or, they're wrong." Shirou said and the burial agent gave him a piercing look. "This design of jousting lance did not exist during that Roman period. Besides, this isn't that lance, trust me on that. I would know."

The burial agent did not look impressed, merely raising an eyebrow at him.

"It doesn't matter. A revelation was confirmed regarding the existence of a holy lance, vital to the existence of the world and I was dispatched to retrieve it. Hand it over." With every word, her eyes hardened and suddenly Shirou felt very much trapped.

He took a deep breath and took a step back.

"Like I said. Help her and I'll gladly give it to you." Shirou repeated, raising the lance up between them.

The burial agent looked annoyed at him, as she crossed her arms. "Look, I don't have anything that could help her and she's already gone. Look at her; she has internal bleeding and no magical energy. I don't know what kind of idiot magus would let themselves run so dry that even their Crest can't function, but she's already dead."

Shirou blinked. What did she mean that Rin had no magical energy? She had had plenty before. Before they went inside the house, she had been brimming with— "Ah." The realization struck Shirou like a sledgehammer.

She must have been desperately trying to re-open the entrance to the bounded field while they had been trapped inside. That overwhelming presence, her radiance and sheer force of presence had been utterly gone once he had seen her afterwards, he realized now.

Shit, that idiot.

"Right, but you can help her, can't you? She saved you once, doesn't that count for something?"

"Look, that was that and this is this. I don't owe her anything. I already told you I can't do anything for her. Just hand over the lance." She said not budging one bit as her eyes bored into his.

Shirou realized then, that she had no care for him or for Rin's lives. The deterrent force had already awoken; in the burial agent's eyes the two magi were already as good as dead. Therefore, trying to negotiate with her was useless.

Her eyes hardened as she saw the realization hit him. "Oh well, I suppose I have to do it like this, then."

She flashed before his eyes and Shirou had barely enough presence of mind to raise the lance to defend. But it was just what she had wanted, as she grabbed the shaft above his hand and pulled. He almost lost his grip on the lance and was pulled along with it as he marveled at her physical strength.

He barely had the presence of mind to pull the gun and magdump into her. In less than 3 seconds, every bullet had struck her in the gut. But it had no effect; she merely grimaced and then swung the lance again and sent Shirou flying as he was forced to let go.

He landed with a roll and ignored the pain in his body as adrenaline filled his veins. Shirou realized he couldn't beat her, not as it was. Hell, she had taken a point blank explosion and shaken it off in a couple of minutes; what could he do to her that would keep her down long enough for him to even recover his breath?

The burial agent looked at the lance and nodded, already ignoring Shirou. In her eyes, he wasn't even a threat.

 _Fine_.

"—trace _on_ ,"

The burial agent had barely enough time to sense the wave of magical energy and just as she looked up to him, he was already upon her holy sword in hand.

A diagonal strike from above right, she blocked with the lance purely on instinct as her face was a mask of awe and wonder at the clashing holy blades. That was fine, he could feel that she had no experience with lance or spear; the sword turned, using the point of contact on the lance as fulcrum and he brought the pommel around on the other side to hook around her wrist and the shaft of the lance.

As he pulled her expression of wonder had turned to momentary panic; in a sword fight, once you are in the bind most amateurs will freeze up as the logic of the situation is completely alien to them. She pulled back, hoping to make distance and had she been able to she would have won. He was in no condition to engage in a prolonged fight.

But his pommel and hilt were hooking her, thus her motion pulled him with her and he jumped forward with that momentum as well. His left hand went to her knee and pulled, the sword in his right hand brought its point on line and as she tripped, pierced her chest like a hot knife through butter.

They fell, Ciel pinned beneath Shirou and sword, as Caliburn had punched through her solar plexus and her spine all the way to the ground beneath them. Her spine had been severed, he could tell by how limp she was and the crossguard had been pushed all the way to the chest.

But, this was hardly enough to stop her. She growled and backhanded him with the lance and sent him and lance both flying back. He hit the wall with enough force that he must have cracked all the ribs that weren't already broken. Those that were, sent lances of pure agony through him.

Yeah, even a holy sword to the chest could not kill this woman, Shirou wondered. But that was fine. Shirou got up, awkwardly and gingerly as he used both the wall and the lance to support himself.

"Sorry about this." He apologized lamely as he looked at the still lying down and struggling burial agent.

"What... Khhhh...! What is this!" She tried to remove the sword, but could not. She tried to lift herself, but with her legs paralyzed and the crossguard pinning her solar plexus, she could not.

"That sword can only be drawn by an ideal king. Or someone who's faking one, I suppose. It's no black key, but it seems to work." Shirou shrugged.

"Khh, you...!" She glared at him but he stood unmoved.

"Sorry, but I'm going to go and finish this, now." Shirou said as he unwrapped the shroud from the lance.

"Wait, you can't...!" Ciel continued trying to struggle, but no matter how she tried she remained rooted to the spot.

Shirou shook his head and then with a flourish put the shroud around himself, before turning to leave. "I'll dispel the sword if I die. Good luck."

He closed the door behind him as he left. His legs were wobbly and his breathing shallow; she had done a number on him. He closed his eyes and focused; the magical energy inside of him was still enough for him to keep going.

Analyzing composition of self—dismissing; sympathizing—voiding; initializing projection, nulling warnings.

Shirou grit his teeth and ignored the hesitations and fear welling up in his heart, the hammer was cocked and the projections—numbering several dozens—were loaded. The cost would have been considerable, but inside himself it was no problem at all. That is, as long as he did not mind the pain.

Fire coursed through his veins; steel lanced his body and Shirou gasped as his muscles spasmed uncontrollably; he bit back and barely managed not to bite off his tongue as he fell to his knees. As he regained his self-control, blood speckled his lips and his breathing was shallow.

"Shit..." Shirou rasped, his voice sounding like a dozen swords grinding blade against blade inside his chest. "Pierced a lung, huh..."

He shook his head and stood up. His joints and muscles creaked unnaturally, but there were no issues with his mobility. On his stomach, a spot of red wetness was expanding slowly. He couldn't feel anything, but he could guess what it was. It didn't even warrant looking at; it would kill him quickly enough to be an issue.

Shirou picked up the lance and gave the house one was last look as he thought about Rin, before he walked out of the house.

The town was in shambles around him, Shirou noted as he hefted the lance up. The fighting had spread, somehow. Relchronos had obviously brought to bear all that he had had in reserve and the deterrent force had ramped up in equal measure until a battle beyond anything Shirou had ever seen had built up.

There were a dozen dragons from where Shirou could see and just as many cloaked figures battling them on equal ground. No, the guardians were pushing back. Relchronos would find no victory here.

Shirou needed to find a vantage spot before anything else; the conditions he had set for himself were quite strict. He had no idea how to make it happen; how to turn that ideal into reality. But, this was his selfishness guiding him. Thus, he could only do it without fail.

Luckily, the shroud was helping. Or it seemed to anyhow. The monsters were too busy fighting to notice him and guardians did not seem to have any presence of mind to pay attention to him. Perhaps it was only a placebo effect, but Shirou continued to walk unmolested.

He walked, ignoring the grinding and twisting sounds, the spreading spots of wetness and numb all over his body and the continued fighting around him. He made it to the tallest building in sight, which was little more than a three story apartment building, and slowly made his way up the roof ladder. Climbing with one hand was a pain, but Shirou knew he needed the lance so dared not let it go.

On top of the chimney, he looked around.

He found Relchronos. Or what was left of him. The magus must have been quite desperate, to take on such a form. The arms Shirou had seen right before he had run, were now broken and bloodied, but still recognizable enough for Shirou to notice them.

The thing that they were attached to was also something he recognized, but could scarcely bring himself to believe.

It stood twenty meters tall and was thrice that wide; an amalgamation of horror and dragon in equal measure, wrapping around itself and fusing just like Shirou had seen them in the forest. His mind almost refused to believe it, but he finally shook himself free of his doubts.

Relchronos had spoken of reincarnation. Would it be possible to possess a summoned creature in such a fashion as well? Apparently he had, Shirou shook his head and stopped trying to figure it out.

"Hey!" Shirou shouted and raised his hand to try and catch the morphed creatures attention, but to no avail. That meant he would have to go to them, then. Which also meant crossing half-a-dozen other battles raging between summoned and deployed combatants. Any one of them could squash Shirou in a second, even were he in perfect condition.

Shirou scowled as he looked back down to the street. He supposed he had no choice but to go there, then. He sighed as he jumped down; ignoring the pain spreading throughout his body at the impact. It would have to be left to the lance; then again, if he was able to consciously accomplish it he was sure the restraints would prevent it.

Shirou continued walking and he reviewed what he knew of the lance, specifically the thirteen restraints and how it functioned. There was something he knew he was missing, but he couldn't quite place his finger on it. Something about the way Relchronos had been using it struck Shirou as being _off._ Something about the the fact that the Church had been so mistaken about its true nature.

It was almost like it was nothing more than an illusion... Almost like the lance felt extremely similar to something Shirou knew intimately.

It was like trying to grasp a shadow, cast by the original item which the shadow was being mistaken as it was thrown against the cave wall—

 _A great tower, reaching up and touching the heaven itself—it sees all, binds all. It is the needle with which the fabric of reality that is the "real world" has been sewn in place._

"Ah." Shirou froze in mid-step and stumbled. He looked at the holy lance with slacked jaw as he could scarcely believe his realization, but as he extended his sense of touch through his magical energy into the lance he felt that he was correct after all. "So that's why the previous owner took such pains to hide it away from the World. The World does not allow illusions to exist, huh."

"Rhongomyniad", "Lance of Longinus" and other holy spears... Were they all just the shadows that the Tower cast?

Shirou chuckled as he began to walk once more, his steps now more brisk and confident. He had his means; he had his resolve; he had his victory in sight.

The thirteen restraints, Shirou mused. Who knew they would serve him so well now in this hour of darkness?

The enemy must be more powerful than oneself; The battle must be one-on-one; The enemy must not be an elemental; The battle must be one against evil; The battle must not involve personal gain; The battle must not be inhumane; The battle must be for truth; The battle must be to live; The battle must save the world; The battle must be an honorable one.

Such are the thirteen restraints, one and all handed by the Knights of the Round Table.

The first he could nothing about; he was by far the weakest here.

The second was easy to remedy as was the third; simply make everyone here his enemy and it would be locked. Jumping into this battle royale and making the World's elementals his enemies was enough, Shirou was sure.

Shirou wondered whether the guardians of the deterrent force would serve as being not-evil enough for the lance to take umbrage, so he could not say for certain over the fourth.

He wasn't sure what defined personal gain, but given that he was acting out of pure selfishness to see that this disaster had never come to pass, he was confident in his belief that the lance would reject him.

Shirou wondered how one judged a battle to be inhumane and how one was for truth, but ultimately shook his head. He didn't care for either, thus surely he was violating the spirit of both restraints.

To live? Shirou knew he was going to die; even were he to miraculously survive the guardians and monsters, he was sure to have internal bleeding. And going back in time wasn't an option; the deterrent force would be hellbent on erasing anyone who would violated time. No, Shirou was not fighting to live, but to die.

To save the world? Hah, the world is far too big for Shirou to comprehend. Even as stubborn and childish as he was, even he had to admit that much. Beyond those he had personally seen and met, how could he even understand saving them? The thought of "saving the world" was far beyond him. The deterrent force was already saving the world, wasn't it? Shirou merely wanted to save a handful of people.

Honor? Well, that was easy to remedy. After all, Relchronos was busy fighting a guardian this very moment. What kind of honorless cur would barge in and ambush everyone present?

Just as it wasn't necessary to unlock all thirteen to wield the lance, the more of the restraints that were placed onto Rhongomyniad the weaker it would become. As long as six of the thirteen were denied, its power would be still enough for him to comprehend.

Therefore, he could work on it. He could analyze it. He could comprehend it. He could sympathize it. "—trace, No... That's not right."

" _I am the bone of my sword_. _"_

Therefore, he could _break_ it. This shadow cast by the true tower which stands at the core of reality.

"Rhooon—"

The lance suddenly _pulsed_ in his hands; it had been imbued with enough power to be activated conventionally, seeing as how it was the keystone around which Relchronos turned the world. The massive power, a mere fraction of its true potential, roared to life as Shirou raised the holy lance aloft and pointed to the heavens.

Suddenly, the entire town seemed to still. Guardian, beast and monster alike were all seized by the roaring light to began to churn as the very fabric of reality seemed to twist beneath that power.

Only one among them knew what it meant and they rejoiced and quailed in horror in equal measure.

" _eeeeeemmmmiiii_ **—** "

"— **NNNGHOMYNIAAD!** "

His roar shattered the air and the lance answered his call despite the multitude of restrictions still in place; the raging whirlwind of pure power ripping through everything around him for hundreds of meters in a wave of pure destruction.

The great pillar rose to meet the very heavens, the clouds parting and twisting before its might. The earth shattered and the air roiled, all water turned to vapor and everything that had been torn apart caught fire from the power of the lance.

Only Shirou stood unharmed, in the eye of the storm as everything around him was torn, shattered and broken by the maelstrom of pure magical energy.

Finally it calmed down and Shirou fall to his knees as all of his magical energy had ran out. His own reserves had been but a drop in the bucket, but the lance still demanded his all. Not for the activation itself; rather for what came after. The charge was set. Sixty.

Only one beside himself still remained standing.

Relchronos de la Torre, twisted and warped into a pure monstrosity in his despair and panic, shambled towards Shirou. There was only one thing that could bring him salvation; the holy lance Rhongomyniad upon which he had based all his plans.

And the man who had unraveled all of his plans had brought it back to him in the eleventh hour. How could he resist it now, as the guardians had been momentarily been blown away by that earth shaking attack which only he had managed to survive?

Shirou smiled; there was nothing more he could do; there was nothing more he needed to do.

And thus Emiya Shirou died.

* * *

 **AN: Well, that went to hell in handbasket real quick.**

 **Basically, there is a line in FGO about how Rhongomyniad's main body is the pillar of light that fastens together the two layers, the inside and outside the World. So I read this along with the two contradictory conditions of "in the unlikely event that this is undone, reality will be tear off from the world."(FGO) along with "temporary seal to stop the degradation of the weapon's Mystery in the first place."(Case Files 1) and I started to have some questions and strange thoughts.**

 **So on the one hand it is unlikely that it will be undone, but on the other it seems that if left alone it will naturally degrade. Weird. So I figured that, fuck it. The lance seen as a lance is only a shadow cast by the true pillar of light which will not be undone easily. So essentially, it's a projection, but everyone is going full Plato's Cave and Ooh'ing and Aah'ing at the holy lance they see.**

 **Thus, Shirou blowing Rhongomyniad up with a Broken Phantasm isn't going to end the world as we know it.**

 **I had a** ** _fun_** **time trying to figure that one out once I realized that my original ending idea would cause reality to collapse as a side-effect and bring about the second Age of the Gods or something.**

 **Shirou: "HERO OF JUSTICE TO THE RESCU—wait, where did those unicorns come from?"**

 **EDIT 9.8.2017:**

 **Went reading through the Japanese wiki and found a lot more to back this view up. 『槍』はその塔が地上に落とした影のもの。** **etc.**

 **Additional thanks for guest reviewer for proofreading.**


	11. Loop 7-1

**PAIN**

BLOODLUST

DESPAIR

 _DISGUST_

ANGER

INTOXICATION

FEAR

 _TERROR_

PAIN

 **DESPAIR**

ANGER

FEAR

TERROR

PAIN

BLOODLUST

DESPAIR

DISGUST

 **ANGER**

INTOXICATION

FEAR

TERROR

PAIN

DESPAIR

ANGER?

FEAR

TERROR

BLOODLUST

DISGUST

ANGER

 **INTOXICATION**

 _FEAR_

TERROR

PAIN

 **DESPAIR**

ANGER

FEAR

 _TERROR_

Relchronos de la Torre could not be considered to be conscious, in the form he had degraded to.

He was guided by pure instinct and through flashes of what could be called memory, but were not. After all, the being known as Relchronos de la Torre was human and this current existence was something that was decidedly _not_.

But even through this haze of non-sapience, there remained sparks of true intelligence. Of understanding.

So when the misshapen hand-that-was-not-a-hand grasped the shaft by its third and sixteenth vertebrae-limbs, the words came out naturally. As if the pipe-like organs all along its body had been designed to utter this one sound, to match the burning of the Crest which had been embedded directly into the creature's heart.

"Re—cur—sus—"

 _SDRAWKCAB_ DENRUT **DLROW** EHT

* * *

He spasmed as he _returned_. For a moment he stood utterly still and then he fell to his knees as his limbs lost all strength.

Relchronos vomited and vomited, he spat and puked until his entire stomach was empty and only acid came up and still he continued to dry-heave.

The memories that had reincarnated into him were things that should not have been, yet were. His entire sense of self was perilously on the edge of being collapsing completely beneath the corruption of his previous existence and by the experiences that he had accumulated.

To call that previous timeline a failure would be an understatement for the ages.

He wiped away the spittle and sickness from his chin and tried to get back up, but failed and fell into his own vomit. His body would not obey him. Or rather, he did not understand his own body any longer.

Where are my trcieleperols? My wings? My spinal whistle-horns? Why do I only have two vertebrae-limbs—hands, he corrected himself. His entire body seemed alien and unfathomable and Relchronos distantly realized he was having a panic attack.

It took him a length of time to gather himself, but he managed somehow.

He continued breathing, slowly and rhythmically, until he could say that he understood himself once more.

As long as he had the lance, he had all the time in the world. He could afford to spend a day, a week or even a year simply recuperating from that ordeal. Yes, he told himself. He would take every experience he had gained from that timeline and use it to foolproof his designs. He would find that Emiya and kill him. He would make sure that he would never again have to experience that.

First, he had to make sure to eliminate anyone who could pose a risk before they could get inside his bounded field. He had been shown his own weakness. He could not simply freeze everything, if he wished to interrogate them. Or could he? His panic had taken the better of him. But longer; he could take everything and everyone on without fear.

Yes. As long as he had the lance. The lance which pulsed with arcane power, glowing and crackling before his very eyes.

"Wha—"

And then it exploded, shattering into motes of light as it dissolved into nothingness. The impact caused Relchronos to fall over backwards, but the explosion was not powerful enough to truly harm him. Indeed, the Mystery had already deteriorated so much that it was barely more than morning dew the moment it had disappeared.

It wasn't there.

 _It wasn't there._

 _IT WASN'T THERE._

 _ **IT WASN'T THERE.**_

He replayed his memories. He looked back and tried to recall. He tore at his temples until blood flowed freely and his face was completely wet.

There was only one answer. But he could not accept it, because that meant that it was the end.

"Broken phantasm..." Relchronos uttered and as the words finally passed his lips, tears began to flow. He could not understand how it was possible, but somehow that man had managed to break the holy lance. Break it, just like he had broken _that holy sword_.

His heart stilled.

For it to be possible to break such an item, it did not make any sense. Unless— Unless— Impossible. How could he have misunderstood the lance's true identity this badly?

Relchronos despaired. Relchronos raged. Relchronos accepted. Relchronos surrendered.

The lance which had been his trump card, had been nothing more than vapor and smoke in his hands. He should have known; there was no way it would have been deteriorating so quickly had it been the real thing. He told himself it was nothing and it turned out to be everything.

He had nothing left, he could sense; a few hundred horrors and two dozen bounded fields in place. But without the lance, those were all useless. To see and reach out, to gather more creatures he needed the _lance_. The lance which he no longer had.

Damn it.

Damn it.

If it hadn't been for that Emiya... Damn it!

Relchronos raised his hand, the words of power on his lips.

If he could not have his dream, the to hell with everyone and everything.

He unleashed all of his horrors at once, enacting the last measure he had devised in case he had no recourse but to take everyone with him.

"Damn it..."

* * *

Shirou jerked at the sound; the loud siren wail that echoed so queerly and unsettlingly, as if it had been designed for the sole purpose of unnerving people.

"What is that?" Adrian asked and Shirou could only shrug to show that he did not know.

They had just arrived in town once more, having managed to follow Rin and Luvia's tracks through the forest. Aside from the horrors they had rounded up back at the camp, they hadn't run into any trouble, but upon arriving in the town they had been stymied as to how they should continue.

That was when the siren had gone off.

"It does not matter, let's keep going—Hey, what are you doing?" Adrian spoke, only to notice that Shirou had used his elbow to shatter a car's window.

Opening the door, Shirou opened the glove compartment and rummaged through. Finding nothing he glanced around the car and frowned. He had a nagging feeling that he couldn't ignore. He walked to the next car and repeated his actions, much to the Enforcer's annoyance.

This time, Shirou found a road map in the glove compartment. He opened it and spread it on the car and began to pore over it. The sound was coming from the east, which meant...

"Shit. Sizewell B." Shirou hit the side of the car with his fist. Finding Hermit, finding Relchronos would have to wait.

"What? What does that mean?" Adrian blinked, not understanding any of this.

Shirou turned to the other with a frown as he tried to think through everything. "It means... It means that we have to get out of here. If we call with the radio, maybe they can evacuate quickly enough..."

"Huh...?"

Shirou sighed and pointed to the distance. It wasn't as if they could see the origin of the wailing siren, but Shirou knew it was the only thing of note in that direction. "That is the meltdown warning siren, coming from the nuclear power plant Sizewell B."

The Enforcer blinked, not understanding a word Shirou said. Slowly, the realization settled in. Even magi, luddites that they were, had some understanding of the scale of seriousness involved in such an event.

"Wha- What?"

Shirou ignored him and picked up the radio instead. He would have to tell them to evacuate if at all possible and then...

And then Emiya Shirou would do everything in his power to stop it before it was too late.

* * *

Ciel kicked down the door.

There was anger, there was exasperation and there was a touch of worry in her as she strode in. The heretic had been cautious, focused. There hadn't been any leads or trails for her to follow. Up until now.

That man had done something. It boggled her mind. Hundreds of horrors had appeared from nowhere, but unlike before there had been a very easily traceable path to it. Almost as if he didn't care about being found.

It had to be a trap.

"Emiya... Damn you Emiya... Damn you, Emiya..." A quiet voice whispered in the darkness. The lance was nowhere to be seen, almost as if it had disappeared into the ether. Well, no matter, she would find it.

What she did see was the heretic. Just as the description spoke, yet completely different. Not the venerable and proud magus one would expect.

It boggled her mind to see this magus reduced to a shivering wreck in the corner of a the dark room. Relchronos de la Torre hadn't even reacted to her entering bounded field. She had simply brought to bear her considerable potential and tapped into some of the esoteric knowledge she possessed—loathe though she did to rely on that man—and broke in before he should have been able to react. _  
_

And he hadn't. Did she feel disappointed?

She walked forward and grabbed the huddled form which flinched at her touch. His eyes widened and she grinned at him, showing all her teeth as she knew she had received the prize she had wanted. Anything for the chance to get her hands on the man who had managed to somehow simulate the Serpent's reincarnation.

"Hello. Now, where is the spear?" The glint in the nun's eyes managed to bring back Relchronos from the precipices of madness where he had been dangling by a thread.

And in the last moments of his life, he knew fear and agony.

* * *

Shirou panted as he leaned against the wall for support, in his hand the golden sword shone as if telling him that he could still keep going, that he was not finished yet. It was true enough, Shirou supposed as he pushed off and continued to walk. Blood flowed down his limbs and his boots left bloody prints on the floor as he continued to advance.

Without vehicles, without immense manpower and resources which they did not possess, evacuating the townspeople was impossible. That meant that the only recourse left to Shirou was to stop the core from overheating himself.

There had been dozens of horrors on the way to the power plant and hundreds more inside the facility itself. There were dozens more corpses, except for one man who had locked himself inside the central control room.

Shirou had broken inside and had tried to talk the man down, but it had been obvious there was no negotiating with the puppet. He hadn't been acting of his own free will, after all. That much was obvious once the horror-familiar that had burrowing itself into his body became apparent. It had been moving the man like a puppet; using his knowledge and skills as it brought about a total disaster, seeking to maximize the damage the nuclear meltdown would cause.

The realization that Hermit had planned this far ahead filled Shirou with a cold fear. He was already almost dead trying to minimize the damage from the magus' distractions. How was Shirou supposed to find and stop him when he was too busy here?

It didn't matter. Shirou continued to walk.

* * *

Ciel let go of the already dead man, the black keys slick with his life's blood as they slid out of him. It hadn't been everything she had hoped for, but it had been something. It was a beginning.

Now...

She reached behind her into her pouch and touched the shroud there. Now, all that remained for her to do was find that Emiya. He was sure to know something, given that the magus insisted that it was due to the freelancer that the lance wasn't there.

Still, she hesitated. How could he have been there? She did not understand, but she would. She knew what he looked like; finding him would be a matter of course.

* * *

Shirou panted as he fell forward. His hand grabbed the railing and he stared at the pool of dark blue. His head lolled forward and came to rest on his arm as he supported himself on the railing. He could see the lethal blue water before him; the core mere meters away. So close, yet so far away.

He had nothing more in him; blood flowed freely and his energy was spent.

The core was in meltdown and none of the safety measures would work; the man had worked here long enough to know the ins and outs of the system. Even with his technical knack, Shirou could not match decades of technical expertise.

Thus, the only recourse left to him was to enter the core directly and use his Reinforcement to force the core cooling mechanism to work again. That meant diving into that radiated, boiling water and getting into spitting distance of highly radioactive material.

Piece of cake, if only he had enough magical energy to keep going.

He tried to put power into his legs to get back up; to step back so he could leap into that water; to do the one thing he had ever sought to do.

But there was nothing left in him. The taste of defeat was bitter as always.

The darkness of the room, the blue glow on the red walls and floors created a dissonance of despair. But suddenly, there was an expansion in the room. Shirou almost choked as he barely had the strength to look up.

Words failed him.

 _It_ reached out to him and Shirou accepted it.

"If doing that means no one will cry, then..."

Power entered his body and he rose up. He grabbed the railing and without a second thought dived into that radioactive pool of coolant. He was sure to suffer and pay for his choice sometime in the future, but it would not stop him.

After all, he was a Hero of Justice.

 **FIN**

Author's note and parting thoughts:

Well. That was something. And I managed to finish it, too! Amazing, me! Good job, me!

The epilogue is left intentionally a bit short since this was a story about Emiya Shirou in loop 6. The Shirou here is arguably someone completely different, that Shirou-6 gave another chance.

Leave scathing reviews and critique; I started this explicitly because I wanted to write something and was told to accept that my first piece would be garbage. So 6 months from now, I'm going to be coming back to look at this so that I can go "What the fuck was I smoking?" as I read this. Some thoughts I had, but was unable to work through during writing:

The name. Originally I thought it clever and wanted to end the fic with a quote about "character being what your are in the dark" but that sounded too cheesy and now I already dislike the name I chose. Still, it works. Shirou is being kept in the dark about everything by everyone, Rel is hiding in a the dark and Shirou is put into positions where he is alone and in the dark as per the quote I based this idea on. So, I hate it but it still works.

I liked writing Shirou, Rin & Luvia and Shirou's action scenes the most. This fic is a little weak on character interactions, as for the most part its about Shirou trekking alone and getting into scraps.

Oh, and the chaotic bit at the beginning of this chapter? It was way better in my openoffice; completely erased all my cool ass formatting ;_;

Arcuied had very little presence beyond being an airhead and punching dragons. Oh well.

Merem(or his familiar anyhow) died 5 minutes after his introduction ;_;7 poor man deserves some pizza for playing his part like a champ. Oh well, he'll revive eventually I guess.

Right at end, I had hesitations about my ending. Thinking, what if Shirou instead merely dons the shroud to hide from the deterrent force while wielding the holy lance as a badass wanderer who has to run from guardians every once in a while? But no, I had an idea I started this fic with and I decided to end it that way.

Still the scene where stands bloodied, wearing the red shroud and pointing at the heaven's with the lance is like something straight out of TTGL. Very cool, I think.

A lot of plot points I felt remained untapped into, like Shirou picking up the gun again, Ciel's memories(I just had this brainfart about reincarnation and the Serpent of Akasha, it really was only added in like the last two chapters, so I realize it might create some plotholes, but well...) and stuff. **Incidentally, I removed this because it added nothing. It was a hasty idea that I hadn't thought really through.**

Hell, now that I think about it, I could have had Shirou shoot Rel in the back with it. A sort of callback to Kiritsugu and Norikata. Then again, I was going with the running timer to get the reader into that "Oh fuck yeah, random numbers! This is going to get fucking awesome!" kind of mood and wanted to set up Shirou's broken phantasm ability before the climax.

Also, someone gave me the advice to cut down on the fluff, which might be worth more than a cursory look into for me. I have as a writer the need to keep everything consistent on some level, thus I will try to justify everything I write. Which does admittedly make for some veeery long and dry parts.

Relchronos and Adrian were my Original Characters, in case it somehow escaped someone's notice. If it did, FUCK YEAH. If they annoyed you, well, sorry. I'm fairly satisfied with Rel, but Adrian was just too incompetent now that I think about it. The scene with stealing the lance was to be his chance to shine, a kind of FUCK YEAH ADRIAN! But it kinda fell flat for him when he died a minute later. That's just kinda how it went. Sorry man.

Also, everyone in the Clocktower camp, sorry for making you all so incompetent.

But hey, everyone survived due to Ron Ex Machina, so yaay! Oh wait, Gray didn't.

…

Well, no one cares about Gray right now. She's got like, what, one and a half novels translated where she is barely a character beyond "shy country girl with holy lance". I don't think anyone notices her at this point beyond going, "Oh, _another_ Saberface. Wonderful." Still, sorry Gray. Once you get a proper characterization, I'll try to give you a better role in the future. Maybe.

And Rin, well, she got a lot of slack. Perhaps not all unduly, but still. I'll definitely make it up to her in another fic.

And this AN is almost as long as the epilogue. Fuck.

 **Anyhow, if you made it this far, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it at least a little.**


End file.
